What's monthly credit card charge??

[ejman]

Charge most everything I can - between $3-$4 K/month. pay in full each month and have never had a late payment or fees. Have been doing this since the reward system started, (If memory serves it started with gasoline as the "payback" and only latter evolved to cash, airline miles etc). We follow a strict budget so there has never really been a problem of purchases getting away from us but I can certainly see the value of a debit card or cash if impulse purchases are a problem.

 

[youbet]

What's monthly credit card charge?? Our is around ~$1500.00-$2000.00

enuff

Also about $2000.

 

[Walt34]

I tried so hard to pay off my credit card at the end of the month but it does seems harder and harder everyday since we tends to spend too much and it's extremely easy to swipe that card then worry about it later.

That's why merchants love credit cards so much - it doesn't "feel" like spending money. I dunno about the accuracy, but I've repeatedly seen the number that shoppers who use credit cards exclusively spend 20% more than cash spenders.

We use a mix of cash, checks and credit cards. DW keeps a spreadsheet in which we record every cc expenditure, predicted utilities for this and the next month and of course income. It's just our way of making sure that the "left hand knows what the right hand is doing" because we do not like financial surprises. We pay the ccs off in full every month and when the outstanding balance approaches what we can pay in full without taking money out of savings, spending stops. Generally, individual spending under $100 we "just do" and anything over that gets at least minimal discussion/acknowledgment.

Funds do not come out of savings without extensive discussion.

Monthly cc bills are usually between $200-$500/month, although we'll charge some expensive items like furniture for the consumer protections that cc offer.

 

[Delawaredave5]

Our bills are $1,500 - $2,500 /month. We're trying to put everything on card. Pay off each month in full.

Don't wan to hijack thread, but what's best card out there ? Lots of folks here seem to use Pen Fed visa.

https://www.penfed.org/productsAndRates/creditCards/rewardCards.asp

 

[Westernskies]

I use an Amex cash rebate card for nearly everyhing, pay it off in full each month. My cash rebate has been averaging $750/year- this year it will be over $1000 with all the new home and moving expenses.

 

[freebird5825]

For December 09, $2700, which is a higher figure than normal for a 2 adult household. December serves as a good high end data point for monthly spending patterns.
I did my winter food stocking and of course some holiday/entertaining related shopping in Dec.
Everything but the recurring monthly bills (utilities, trash, insurance, etc) goes on the cash back card. Zero balance every month.

 

[Delawaredave5]

I use an Amex cash rebate card for nearly everyhing, pay it off in full each month. My cash rebate has been averaging $750/year- this year it will be over $1000 with all the new home and moving expenses.

Looks like that card is not available to new cardholders....
https://www217.americanexpress.com/cards/npz.do?pmccode=67#CARDS/67/0/0/-1

 

[RonBoyd]

Our two cards add up to $3K to $4K each month, paid off each month. We like the cash back on the cards. Appreciate the mediation the cards provide if there are problems with stores or service providers.

I try to charge as much (of every day expenses) as I can each month. I always pay the balance and never incur a finance charge. I benefit greatly from the rewards and other card perks. I probably average $1500 to $2000 per month. I would never consider using cash.

What they said. (Particularly the "never consider cash" statement.)

We average around $3,000 a month.

 

[harley]

I think credit cards are the biggest budget busting device in the world.

I think the biggest budget busting device in the world is the television. I've often told DW and DD that the reason they buy stuff and I don't is that they watch commercials. Of course, I'm usually saying that in response to their annoyed comments due to my channel flipping with the remote. But I stand by my claim. I don't watch commercials so I'm not under constant pressure to "improve my life", which I would accomplish by running out and buying something I don't need with my CC.

 

[haha]

I think the biggest budget busting device in the world is the television. I've often told DW and DD that the reason they buy stuff and I don't is that they watch commercials. Of course, I'm usually saying that in response to their annoyed comments due to my channel flipping with the remote. But I stand by my claim. I don't watch commercials so I'm not under constant pressure to "improve my life", which I would accomplish by running out and buying something I don't need with my CC.

I believe you are right. You can't covet what you haven't heard of. The science and technology of persuasion is very advanced. We may think we have resistance to it, but for the most part our resistance is weak. Best to avoid advertising altogether. And that is what a DVR is for.

Ha

 

[Delawaredave5]

But I stand by my claim. I don't watch commercials so I'm not under constant pressure to "improve my life",

Right on !!!

"Marketing" has made millions of people miserable - there's a lot of depression over the holidays induced by all the marketing pressure of what the "perfect holiday" should be.

So sad.....

 

[clifp]

My sister and her husband have never owned a TV. They are the least consumer oriented people I know so you guys maybe on to something.

Fortunately for my fellow marketers, the internet has come along providing wonderful and exciting opportunities for business to make consumer aware of fabulous new goods and services that will make their life richer and more complete. Thanks to credit card all of these can be obtained painlessly just by running your card through the reader or clicking the buy it now button on many websites.

 

[Westernskies]

Looks like that card is not available to new cardholders....
https://www217.americanexpress.com/cards/npz.do?pmccode=67#CARDS/67/0/0/-1

Try this link...
Search American Express to get help, frequently asked questions, and search offers

Even if you are not going to use the Costco membership, the cash rebate is worth the cost.

 

[WM]

We are on the high end, I guess, usually between 3-4K per month but for the past year (which involved a couple of moves and rather extensive home repairs) we were above 5K every month. It's nice to see the numbers finally dropping! We do put pretty much everything we can on the CC and pay in full each month.

I agree that spending with plastic feels less "real" than paying cash. So if we needed to cut expenses I would be inclined to go the cash route.

 

[RonBoyd]

So if we needed to cut expenses I would be inclined to go the cash route.

I find writing (virtually, of course) that $3,000 check to be incentive enough to control spending.

 

[megacorp-firee]

We have an average of about 1200 per month. We charge everything above 10 bucks usually. Since we pay it off each month, no issue.

 

[RonBoyd]

Visa Reigns with Silent Tax

When you sign a debit card receipt at a large retailer, the store pays your bank an average of 75 cents for every $100 spent, more than twice as much as when you punch in a four-digit code.

Credit Cards fees are even higher. (Guess who ultimately pays this "tax.")

“What we witnessed was truly a perverse form of competition,” said Ronald Congemi, the former chief executive of Star Systems, one of the regional PIN-based networks that has struggled to compete with Visa. “They competed on the basis of raising prices. What other industry do you know that gets away with that?”

 

[RonBoyd]

I guess if I'm going to hi-jack a thread, I might as well go whole hog:

The Cognitively Weak, Financial Services, and Evil Rortybomb’s Survey

In late November I talked about how credit cards specifically, and the consumer financial system more generally, was fee and ‘trick and traps’ based and how that amounted to a transfer from the poorest to the richest in our country. ... I was amazed at the amount of feedback I got that argued this was a great system, because instead of ripping off the poor to give benefits to the rich, it really transferred “from the ignorant and foolish to the informed and prudent”, or as one emailer put it, in a manner representative of many other emails: “It’s the irresponsible borrowers – who are often poor – that are penalized and the ultra-responsible borrowers that are rewarded. I fail to see the problem there.”

I smell money – it’s like walking down a sidewalk and turning a corner and then there is suddenly money all over the sidewalk. One problem with hitting up sick people, single mothers, college kids who didn’t plan well and the cash-constrained poor with fees and traps is that they’re poor. Hitting up people with a lifetime of savings suffering from dementia is some real, serious money we can tap as a revenue source. Indeed someone who forgets what they were doing between reading “Bullshit Surcharge: $40″ on their statement and calling the customer support number to complain is our ideal customer – it’s the person who will be most profitable to us going forward.

The people in [sic] at the beginning of this post who are excited about how the current financial service industry excels because it punishes the ignorant and irresponsible: on what specific grounds could you not have to embrace, much less oppose, the Evil Rortybomb Plan above? ... I don’t think anyone would argue against the idea that those suffering from dementia will be the most ignorant of their actual situations and most irresponsible in the sense that they aren’t capable of being responsible. The extra fees and traps they pay will in part also go to those enjoying extra bonuses and continued free financial services. It’s a win-win from this point of view, no?

 

[Alan]

I guess if I'm going to hi-jack a thread, I might as well go whole hog:

The Cognitively Weak, Financial Services, and Evil Rortybomb’s Survey

Absolutely agree.

There was a Frontline program on the Financial Services industry on PBS a few weeks back that highlighted a lot of these practices. One particularly bad practice, that a bank executive defended resolutely, is the practice of how debits are applied. On a particular day it is done biggest to smallest, not as they happen, and the customer is never given any warning that they are overdrawing. Example:

You unknowingly have ony $500 in your account and you make 5 small purchases in the morning totaling $100. In the evening you make a purchase of $510. If it happened "fairly" the first 5 would go through and you would at least get a warning and asked if you wanted to proceed with the last transaction.

What happens in practice is that the $510 is deducted first, triggering a $30 "Overdraft courtesy fee", and then all 5 small transactions get debited, each triggering their own fee making a total of $180.

Also, because it is called a fee and not a short term loan (which is actually what it is) they get around the law requiring them to post the interest rate on that loan (like the payday loan places have to do).

 

[scrabbler1]

Alan, I saw that Frontline program, too. Really despicable how they do that and get away with it. The banks turn responsible consumer behavior (the first 5 purchases in your example) into a profit for the banks at the expense of the consumer.

 

[W2R]

Absolutely agree.

There was a Frontline program on the Financial Services industry on PBS a few weeks back that highlighted a lot of these practices. One particularly bad practice, that a bank executive defended resolutely, is the practice of how debits are applied. On a particular day it is done biggest to smallest, not as they happen, and the customer is never given any warning that they are overdrawing. Example:

You unknowingly have ony $500 in your account and you make 5 small purchases in the morning totaling $100. In the evening you make a purchase of $510. If it happened "fairly" the first 5 would go through and you would at least get a warning and asked if you wanted to proceed with the last transaction.

What happens in practice is that the $510 is deducted first, triggering a $30 "Overdraft courtesy fee", and then all 5 small transactions get debited, each triggering their own fee making a total of $180.

Also, because it is called a fee and not a short term loan (which is actually what it is) they get around the law requiring them to post the interest rate on that loan (like the payday loan places have to do).

I would be infuriated if that happened to a friend or relative.

Most of us on this forum are doing outstandingly well financially, compared with most Americans. Hearing about the plight of many people in our lower income areas is heart rending.

Given our financial success (in a relative sense), and given the lousy interest rates in most savings accounts, one thing we can do to avoid fees is to keep three months' living expenses (part of one's emergency fund) in checking. If an emergency really happens requiring that that money is used, then one can watch the balance like a hawk, but most of the time this provides a "cushion" to keep those overdraft fees at bay.

But can those in poverty do this? I seriously doubt it since the emergency fund is probably spent already, on food or other necessities.

 

[WM]

I would be infuriated if that happened to a friend or relative.

I have an uncle who's been dealing with these exact issues. He's relatively low-income, and specifically requested from the local bank that his debit card not have overdraft protection so that he couldn't spend more than was in his account. Somehow he still ends up being approved for purchases over his limit and then charged extra fees.

 

[Alan]

In the early 80's I got hit with fees once by the bank using similar tactics. I opened my monthly statement to see that on the day my paycheck posted the balance went negative a little as a check or 2 also posted on that day but on the statement the debits were listed before the credit. I went to the bank to complain and asked them to prove that the paycheck posted later than the check that apparently caused the overdraft. they told me that it was standard practice to post debits before credits on a given day regardless of actual time of day. I demanded and got a refund on the basis they couldn't show me any document that I had ever received from them that explained that.

A month later I switched banks but also made sure I kept a much closer watch on things. These days with ATM's and internet access it is much easier to keep track.

 

[mickeyd]

Between the two CCs that we use (MC and DC) our totals are about $2k each month. It's often less than that and occasionally way over that amount. We pretty much charge all of our purchases and spend very little cash.

 

[Danmar]

We put everything on credit cards but always and I mean ALWAYS pay them off each month. Spend is around $25,000 per month. We use the points for travel. The credit card business is great for the Banks (I know first hand) and if you aren't careful can really screw up your personal finances. You could view it as a tax on the weak and stupid I guess. A bit like casinos, tobacco companies, etc.