I understand CC rewards and credit scores are not the cornerstones of personal finance. But this one is personal:
As a freshman in college, I found out my parents took out credit cards in my name and maxed them out. It was a shit show. However, while they did something terrible I understand their reasons (survival -- they were hopeless). This left me with $3,000 of dollars of credit card debt. During undergrad and grad school, I could never pay these off and just kept sending $50 to the banks each month just to keep them from going delinquent. Sometimes, I missed payments.
In another post, I explained how after grad school I was able to pay off all my debt and raise my score from 590 to 705 in half a year. Hallelujah!
So I started doing what I always wanted to do: use credit cards responsibly. Moreover, I was on a mission to earn the money back that I had to pay in interest all those years. I closed most of my old cards as they also had annual fees and no perks but kept my Discover card. I was able to upgrade it to Discover It immediately and start earning a percentage back. I was surprised only a couple months later when I got a pre-selected letter for the Citi Double Cash Back card. I signed on. I also became an avid fan of (NerdWallet)[NerdWallet.com] reviews and other blogs about the best rewards cards and how to use them wisely.
Here's the breakdown of my crusade:
Discover It ------------------------- $147 -- % back.
Chase Freedom --------------------$313 -- Worth in points. Signup bonus + % back.
Chase Saphire Prefered ------------$600 -- Worth in points. Signup bonus + % back.
Citi Double Cash --------------------$350 -- 2% back on everything. This is my catch-all card.
Hilton Honors -----------------------$400 -- Value of 80k points. Signup bonus.
Bank of Amer Cash Rewards ------ $150 -- Signup bonus after spending $500.
Amazon store card ------------------$40 -- Signup bonus. I wanted to pre-order Destiny 2, sue me.
Chase Banking Account -------------$200 -- This wasn't a CC but I got $200 for moving to a Chase account.
So that's where I stand right now. It's important to note that I always pay my credit cards in full each month. And while I know my credit score could be higher if I was letting my average credit history grow, I'm happy with it in the 700s at the moment. I imagine soon I'll end this crusade and cancel the sign-up bonus cards. At that time, I'll cozy up to my Double Cash Card and spend a life together.
edit
-
I've gotten some messages that I'm likely just letting my spending creep up to meet these goals. This is absolutely something people should try to avoid. Personally, I track my monthly spending for each category and set goals of what I want to spend in each per month before looking for CCs. This helps me avoid spending more just to make a reward bonus.
-
Bank bonuses! I forgot to mention I switched to a new bank for a $200 credit. Haven't spent a dime there either, just needed to set up a direct deposit with Chase.
TL;DR I spent years in CC debt due to my parent's fuck up. I paid them all off finally a year ago and have comitted to being a wise CC user. Without increasing my spending, I started taking advantage of every CC signup bonus, CC % back, or checking account signup bonuses I could to get that money back.
Submitted June 28, 2017 at 01:32PM by BrandosSmolder http://ift.tt/2tpM9dD
