I Just Made $250 by Paying My Billsby Traci Anderson | More from this Blogger 17 May 2007 07:10 PM Perhaps I should start this post with a disclaimer. I am going to talk about credit cards. Personally, I have a love - hate relationship with the convenient little pieces of plastic. If you are able to pay the balance on your credit card (in full) each month...continue reading. If not, this is not the post for you. Around this time last year I made a decision to pay all of my bills with my credit card. This included my auto insurance, my utility bills, my cable, internet, phone...etc...). In fact, I used my card to buy everything - groceries, clothes, food, etc... and I still do. Do you have a home-based or small business? Does your husband have business expenses? I also earned a considerable amount of "cash back" simply by putting all of my business expenses on my card by using my card as my primary business card. I almost hyper-ventilated the first time I got my $1000+ credit card bill in the mail. I had to constantly remind myself that these were the things I would have written checks for anyway. Okay, breathe now. The reason I decided to use my card for virtually *everything* (including my morning lattes) was because of a 1-2% cash back bonus the card offered. I figured, as long as I am not paying late fees or finance charges, the little end of the year bonus would be a nice treat. While I love my cash back bonus, you may enjoy travel rewards, airline miles, student rewards, fuel certificates, new car rewards, shopping rewards, or even the ability to donate to your favorite charities. Last month, I opened my credit card statement and was thrilled when I saw that $250 was credited to my account as my yearly bonus. That's nearly a months' worth of groceries, my monthly student loan bill, or a car payment. It was pretty exciting. Remember that disclaimer I made earlier about not reading this post if you don't (or can't) pay your balances in full each month? I meant it. If you want to save between 1% and 5% on all of your purchases (or earn miles...points, etc...) credit cards are wonderful. If you can't pay off your balances cut them up. It absolutely defeats the purpose when you pay between 15% and 20% in interest each month. Do you pay your bills using a credit card? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section. Related Reading: Credit Cards and Rewards Choosing the Right Credit Card Learn more about Traci Anderson  Traci is a work-at-home-mom (WAHM) from beautiful Big Sky Country (Montana). She spends most of her time trying to keep up with two extremely energetic (but hysterical) Irish twins. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Courtney Mroch (9169) 18 May 2007 11:07 AMA few years back I went this route too (paying everything with the credit card to earn cash back). But to make sure I'd also pay it off every month, I started deducting all each transaction from my check book, just like I would have if I'd written a check. Then, each month when the bill comes in, I have to add back these deductions and cut the check to the credit card company. It's a little more math and work, but I haven't carried a balance. And I've earned back literally over a $1,000 since I started doing it. Makes a difference and good way to put your money to work for you. IF you can make sure to pay off the balances each month... Great article!  Hava Lyon (1545) 01 Jun 2007 10:34 PMI do the same thing as Courtney - I use Quicken, and whenever I buy something with my credit card, I put it in under my credit card account, and then take the total owed on the credit card account and put it into my checking account as being the amount owed to the credit card. Every time I buy something with my credit card, I just add it to the line in the checking section, until it's time to pay the bill, and then I pay it! I never worry about what the bill is going to be, because I've already got it paid for in my Quicken accounts! I don't know if that made any sense to anyone but me, LOL, but that's my system. ;-) Havs Community Tags bonuses, credit cards, cash back, Travel Discuss this article
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