Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Maximizing Your Credit Card Rewards

In their pursuit to get you to subscribe up for their credit card, banks and financial establishments are coming up with more than and higher inducements to lure you. Frequent circular miles gave manner to gas miles which opened the door for cash discounts and reward points to be used at 'our mulct member merchants'. When most other things are equal (APR, annual fees, fees for transfers et al), the style of reward points and how you can do usage of them can be the crucial factor in which card you take to set in your wallet.

One of your best options for a credit card these years is one of the current harvests that offer higher rewards/rebates for purchases made in gas stations, convenience supplies and supermarkets. These so-called 'everyday purchases' are the market that credit card companies desire to capture. That's why the large pushing to highlight the convenience of using a credit card for things like grocery store shopping - a great manner to maintain path of your purchases, they point out - gasoline purchases and other mundane incidentals. In order to get you to make that, they're offering rewards and cash back on those purchases that are higher than those for other purchases.

Take a expression at American Express' credit card offering, Blue Cash. The card offers a 0% introductory APR for the first six months. After that, the APR is from 11.2% to 16.2% depending on your credit report. There is no annual fee, no fee for balance transfers, and the APR for balance transfers is 4.99% for the life of the balance. Already, it's looking like a very nice deal.

Add in, however, the cash back rewards program, and you have got a credit card that tin actually save you money. If you pay off your balance in full every calendar month on time, there is NO INTEREST for 20 years on any of your purchases. The Rewards programme offers you 1% dorsum on all your 'everyday purchases' up to the first $6,500 you pay for with your card. In addition, you'll get .5% on all other purchases that you charge on your card. If you charge more than than $6,500 on your American Express Blue Cash card, your cash discount travels up to 5% on mundane purchases and 1% on all others.

How makes that stack up? If you've budgeted $125 per hebdomad for groceries, that's $6,500 for the year. Wage for that on your Blue Cash card AND wage THE bill WITHIN THE grace PERIOD, and you'll salvage $65 on grocery stores for the year. If you lodge to that, and also pay for your gasoline with your Blue Cash card, you'll get 5% dorsum of those purchases - since your grocery store purchases alone set you into the 5% bracket. If you gas up to the melody of $40 a week, that's another $104 in nest egg over the year.

Granted, taking full advantage of that kind of Cash back rewards programme necessitates subject and premeditation - but it's not as hard as it sounds. It just intends thinking of your credit card as just another measure that you pay in full each month. And that, after all, is the best and most common advice that financial experts give.

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