One of the first credit cards I ever got was a Discover. It was brand new, back then. And it's the card I've had the longest. Although I hardly ever use it (too many times they sent those checks after I asked them to stop, too many questionable "related" deals, etc). And now I get a mailer that I can earn an extra $150 cashback bonus (cashback bonus, btw, stands for "biggest scam ever") if I spend more that $1000 (or more) each calendar month for July to September. But first I have to call a number to register for it.
Really?
If I put $3000 on any card within any 3 month period, the CEO of the card company should fly out to my house and personally kiss my ass in gratitude.
When I lost my job over a year ago, I started putting more things on credit cards than I had ever done before (for various reasons, as we always, always, pay off the balance every month). I used to like to use cash as much as possible before that. But now getting cash has become a little harder, so I like to keep the hard cash as much as possible. It's sort of like the opposite of what I used to do.
But you know what? I still don't put $1000 on the card within a month. And I have a 44 mile (one way) commute. I also do a lot of grocery shopping and errand running. Not to mention completing several home improvement projects this past Spring. Still, not at $1000 a month. I think I did go over one month. But that was when I bought the iPad, a 25 anniversary gift for Bette, and her birthday presents.
The unfortunate thing is I expect this will be a successful promotion for them.
4 comments:
Now I'm all embarrassed and shit, because we always put $1000 a month on our card. Mind you, we always pay the bill in full every month, but still.
Of course, about the only things that don't go on the card are groceries, my massage therapist, and the farmer's market. And a few bills that I transfer money directly from checking to the company. Everything else goes on the card, including several of my bills.
On the other hand, I'm still not sure what our new "normal" is, since we're no longer driving to VA one weekend a month.
Not sure what "normal" is, but I don't have it.
I have two credit cards. I use one credit card almost exclusively for business stuff, and the other one almost exclusively for non-business stuff. And It's rare that I put more than $500 on them combined.
I don't like credit cards, and use them only because I have to for some things. And like Michelle, they get paid off in full every month.
Oh, and I never take advantage of any "special offers." Ever.
Michelle, if I put all my regular bills on a card, yeah, I could be over $1000 without a problem. If I had a real reason to do that (checking account with lots of fees, a decent milage offer on the card, etc) I could see doing that. At the moment, it would feel too much like paying the same bill twice. Our checking isn't really expensive, and I still have an aversion to using a credit card (or at the very least going to things like "automatic billing" where they just bill my card, no, I want to see your bill first).
Vince, I don't think I've ever signed up for a special offer either. And Discover is the only card that has tried to hard sell me on them, which is another reason the Discover rarely gets taken out.
Wait, each month?! I mean, I could see putting that much on a credit card during a vacation; e.g. I used a credit card for hotel and expenses when I went to SXSW and then paid off the trip expenses when I got back. So I can imagine putting three grand on a card during a really nice, once-this-year vacation if you're staying in a swank hotel, not flying cattle class, etc. But splitting that over a three-month period?! Um. No. That's messed up.
Post a Comment