I'd decline to pay that fee. It's already included in the donation. QCD from RMD is a much better deal for you if you've reached that status.Even the food bank asks me to add on the cc fee to my donation so they don't have to pay it.
I'd decline to pay that fee. It's already included in the donation. QCD from RMD is a much better deal for you if you've reached that status.Even the food bank asks me to add on the cc fee to my donation so they don't have to pay it.
Originally Posted by gwraigty View Post
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Citi Mastercard - 2% as long as you don't redeem for a statement credit
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If you select statement credit ,then aren't you earning only 1% back?
(losing half of your potential rewards)
I don't have the card, but had considered it. It's my understanding that you get 1% on purchases and 1% on payments. If you choose a statement credit, you're getting less than the full secondary 1% on your purchase amounts. For a crude example, if you spent $1,000 in a billing cycle, had redeemed $25.00 as a statement credit, consequently were billed $975, and paid the bill in full, you wound up with 1% on the $1,000 in purchases, and 1% on the $975 payment. That would be $10 plus $9.75 for $19.75 in cash back. That's 1.975%, not 2%. Don't redeem as a statement credit, and you get $10 plus $10 for $20 in cash back, which is the full 2% on purchases.
Because the card splits the cash back between purchases and payments, unlike most cards, choosing a statement credit is not a no brainer with this card, as it can be with most other cards.
g...........thanks
The Fidelity card is worse if you don't deposit in Fidelity acct.......then you just get 1% instead of 2%.
g...........thanks for that detailed example. Shows that my quick intuition is just quick and not right..........so just a small haircut on the final rewards kind of like applying rewards directly to purchases instead of a statement credit at AMZN.
The Fidelity card is worse if you don't deposit in Fidelity acct.......then you just get 1% instead of 2%.
Another hack I’ve started using is to alternate bretween 2 Cashback cards every 2 weeks. That gets me an extra 14 days of float for a total of 42 days. That money stays invested in a high yield account and set to autopay on the due date.
These cash back card's which I already commented about are great for people like myself and others on this forum that can discipline themselves to pay it off each month but unfortunately many can't.
I've had more than a few conversations with friends and family about this topic and it's clear it's not meant for everyone. These types of people are also generally the one's with financial issues or a life long battle's with saving money.
Although I find this an easy way of making "free" money, the fact is, for me I get this huge Visa bill each month with dozens and dozens of charges which I go over carefully to make sure of no mistakes or unaccounted charges. Surprising how often I find a mistake on the part of the business I charged at, either a wrong dollar amount or a charge that never went through.
Certainly takes a certain amount of organizational skills to keep up with it all.
I have recently decided to transition all of my automatic bill payments, monthly spending, etc. to my credit card and then pay the balance off each month. Excluding my mortgage (which won't let me pay with a card), this will come out to about $80,000 per year, which will net me about $1000 cash back, or more if I use it for travel.
My mortgage costs me $26400 per year, which would add an extra $300 cash back to my yearly CC total. Since I can't pay with a card, I could withdrawal cash from my CC and then deposit that into my bank to pay the mortgage, and then just pay off the entire balance each month... And with this in mind, why not max out my cash allowance every month, put it into my bank, and use this to pay the balance, and really rack up CC points for travel?
Anyone else do this? Any issues? I'm assuming this is perfectly legal? I can't see why not.
Trying to wrap my head around this. Doesn't it get you an extra 14 days one time?
Awe crap! I figured it was too good to be true. I didn't realize there were fees. I've never used cash advances on CC before. I thought it was just like swiping for a purchase. Well, scrap that idea!
There is only one bill of mine that charges extra for a credit card, and for that one I'll continue having it taken from my bank account.
And, COcheesehead, we're currently looking at different bonus point cards to find one with the best points. Right now we've got Chase Sapphire, which is okay, but there are better ones out there. Oh, and I only want Visa or Mastercard. I'm not interested in American Express. I had one in the past, and it seemed there were too many places that don't take it.
Trying to wrap my head around this. Doesn't it get you an extra 14 days one time?
1. AMEX Blue Cash: 5% on groceries, gasoline, and drug stores
2. Amazon/Chase VISA: 5% on all Amazon purchases
3. Fidelity/Elan VISA: 2% on everything else
We pay no annual fees and no one charges extra fees for CC use.
According to nerdwallet.com, the AmEx Blue Cash card (no annual fee) pays only 3% cash back on groceries, 2% on gasoline, and 1% at drug stores. I checked because getting 5% cash back on groceries and gasoline is, to my knowledge, unheard of these days for a no-annual-fee CC.
Also, although it may be true in your specific situation, it's not quite accurate to say "no one charges extra fees for CC use". I've never heard of being able to pay taxes (property, income, vehicle, etc.) using a CC without a substantial fee. In fact, in my experience, all service providers and agencies with a monopoly (e.g., city utilities) usually charge fees for payment via CC. Only private companies in competitive industries, like auto insurance or cable/satellite TV, waive CC payment fees. Not saying this is true for everyone, but since it's the case for me here in metro Atlanta, I suspect it's probably true in many other areas, as well.
No. If the statement closes on the 30th, I stop using that card on the 16th and switch to the other card which closes 2 wks later. I am basically only using each card for the 1st half of the billing period. The 2nd half of each billing period is extra float.
I'm on a grandfathered version of the AMEX Blue Cash, which has no annual fee and pays 5% on groceries, gasoline, and drug stores. There are no spending limits. The only catch with this card is you don't earn 5% until after you spend $6500 each reward year at 1%. So we usually use that card for some large expense (like booking travel) at the start of each reward year so that we maximize the time at 5%.
Obviously, I can only speak for myself. But none of our utility providers charge an extra fee to pay the bill with a CC, including our city-owned (monopoly) electric and water utility. As I mentioned before, I don't pay property tax or federal income tax with a CC because the fees are too high. Everything else goes on a CC, including all monthly bills, and there are no extra fees for using the card.
It's fairly rare to see a gas station nowadays that doesn't charge something like 5-10¢ less per gallon for cash customers.
...It's fairly rare to see a gas station nowadays that doesn't charge something like 5-10¢ less per gallon for cash customers.
In my area, I've never seen a gas station that charges less for cash than credit. I've lived in the same general area my whole life. A few decades ago, while on vacation in a different state, I did see this and thought it quite strange.
...Having to spend $6,500 before you start earning the 5% does seem like a pretty major catch, though...
In my area, I've never seen a gas station that charges less for cash than credit.