Credit card debt

[nomore4s]

There was an article in BRW last week, or the week before, comparing different CC reward systems.

There is one card (an AMP one I think), that if you spend $25k pa you can get nearly $800 worth of rewards from it, after all the expenses etc etc. Not a bad little reture, if you can always pay it off before the interest start accruing

We also use a reward system with our business c/c and cashed it in last month for $700 cash.

 

[Prospector]

the person on the phone laughed and basically said "it's not really worth fixing just three cents". My point was though that 3 cents here, 5 cents there and if they had done it to half a million customers, they just made a crap load of money.

Yes, agree, but they rely on people not spending 25cents phone call (maybe mobile?) to query a 3 cent issue. Quite a lerk, really.

My cards reward system is fantastic too.

 

[CanOz]

I have a crappy GM card from Westpac. I need at leasat two cards but i cancelled my Citibank card because they were morons. I have no debt, no expenses (well like 400 AUD per month) and save almost everything i make and ANZ declined me for a gold card!

I've applied for Chinese card now.....got to have an laternate card for travel.

I used to be up to my eyeballs in C.Card debt 4 years ago. Consolidated it all to a bank loan and paid the lot off. Never again. The only load i will ever have now is a margin loan. Everything else will be cash....if thats still worth anything!

CanOz

 

[Judd]

On the basis that a lot of your cash is used every week, generally groceries, petrol and the like, we simply have our budgeted amount going into a low interest account (pick one) and pay the credit card off every week, rounding to nearest $5. Sometime we owe it $5.00, other times it owes us $5.00 at the end of the billing cycle.

And BPay is free with the institution we use.

As for the rounding matters, the worst are the $2 shops. $24.98 turns into $25.00 unless you draw their attention to the rounding requirements that is cheques or similar (including credit/debit cards) are to the exact cent and not subject to rounding rules. They don't like it and start to protest but stuff 'em. It's our money.

 

[Bill M]

We also use a reward system with our business c/c and cashed it in last month for $700 cash.

I'm with you. I have a Gold Card and if I spend 8K per year or more I get my annual fee waived. So I bulk it up as much as I can including air fares, levys, rates and all other big ticket items. I get free travel insurance and frequent flyers. Then at the end of the Month I pay the lot off, I actually make a profit out of my card every year.

 

[Largesse]

Switch to Diners.
Best rewards program in Australia and because its not a credit card per say, it forces you to pay the full balance on the card back monthly.

 

[Beej]

Switch to Diners.
Best rewards program in Australia and because its not a credit card per say, it forces you to pay the full balance on the card back monthly.

But their merchant fees are awesomely high (3-5%) meaning you can't use it anywhere near as widely as a Visa or Mastercard......

Beej

 

[gordon2007]

Yes, agree, but they rely on people not spending 25cents phone call (maybe mobile?) to query a 3 cent issue. Quite a lerk, really.

My cards reward system is fantastic too.

I'm going to sound cheap here, but I always make these kind of calls from work. Not to save money, just because it's easier to do these things during the day. I also have a work mobile so I don't pay for mobile calls.

 

[Largesse]

But their merchant fees are awesomely high (3-5%) meaning you can't use it anywhere near as widely as a Visa or Mastercard......

Beej

this is true, but if you are one of those people that can't force themselves to pay with in the 55day interest free window you are going to get slogged for 17%+ Per annum anyway.....

 

[Julia]

I hope so.Would be nice to see the money grubbing banks drop in value or go bankrupt when the borrowings aren`t repaid.Legalised exploitation of fellow humans.That`s what they do.

Our banks going bankrupt wouldn't benefit anyone, including you.
I don't regard banks as being any more exploitative than any other business.
They make their terms clear. Your problem if you don't keep to the contract.

 

[Trevor_S]

That's what I do. The thing is, I have a 55 day interest free period and often have anywhere between $1k and up to $10k balance sitting on that card (I use it to cover a lot of travel expenses etc for which I get reimbursed). So those amounts "count" in the ABS stats, even though not 1c of interest every accrues or is paid by me on that CC. I don't believe this factor is accounted for accurately in those statistics, and I suspect a large number of people use CCs the same way I do.

Indeed, I am another.. I use my personal card for lots of my business expenses because company credit cards offer terrible conditions by comparison (ie no rewards scheme, albeit they are crappy these days, interest starts immediately, high fees etc etc). Before I recently sold down half my business it was not unusual to have up to $30K in expenses on there at months end that were paid off the day before the bill was due. In decades of credit card usage I only ever got hit with interest once where I was away on on a trip and didn't pay the bill on time

 

[Trevor_S]

I'm going to sound cheap here, but I always make these kind of calls from work. Not to save money, just because it's easier to do these things during the day. I also have a work mobile so I don't pay for mobile calls.

Remind me not to employ you To quote someone else I am going to sound cheap here but my staff are advised upon employment and there is a note near every phone, no personal calls, unless they don't mind me coming over their place at night to make business calls on their phone but of course they ignore it, as long as it doesn't get out of hand I don't really mind... well I do (it's stealing) but I grit my teeth and bear it.

 

[gordon2007]

(it's stealing)

It's not stealing if you're allowed to make personal calls.

I can understand about people abusing calls at work. But you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who has never made a personal call at work. Some things just have to be done in the day time.

It would be much more productive for an employee to make a call via business hours then to chuck a sickie just so they can make a needed call.

 

[Judd]

It's not stealing if you're allowed to make personal calls.

I can understand about people abusing calls at work. But you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who has never made a personal call at work. Some things just have to be done in the day time.

It would be much more productive for an employee to make a call via business hours then to chuck a sickie just so they can make a needed call.

I just use my Telstra Telecard (billed to my home phone account) when making personal calls using another person's phone, including my employer's. See no valid reason why all employees should not do that.

 

[sinner]

Yep, same here. Take a slogging enough as it is on holding cash, mostly because of the availability of cheap credit, so why not take advantage.

I'm on 55 days here too charge everything on it and never leave it longer than a fortnight.

 

[Beej]

In decades of credit card usage I only ever got hit with interest once where I was away on on a trip and didn't pay the bill on time

I have it set up so my CC get's paid in full automatically on the day that the payment is due. Ask your bank I am sure they can set this up for you, then you don't have to remember to pay it, and never risk accidentally paying any interest.

Cheers,

Beej

 

[Smurf1976]

as long as it doesn't get out of hand I don't really mind... well I do (it's stealing) but I grit my teeth and bear it.

It's almost certainly cheaper to pay for a few phone calls than to suffer the loss of staff morale that goes with banning them. Getting rid of all the silly rules like that is one thing that's help send productivity right up where I work. Make as many calls as you like, as long as the work gets done and the calls aren't something that could attract negative attention (eg phone sex lines). Nobody abuses it to my knowledge.

As for credit cards, I use mine as much as possible to collect the reward points but pay it off in full usually once a fortnight. Needless to say I don't pay interest on it.

I have another card for work, the company just pays it off in full automatically at the end of the month so no interest there.

 

[white_goodman]

get a visa debit card...too easy

 

[grace]

I spend everything on credit card (linked point for point to my qantas frequent flyer card). I always pay by the due date. Only once did I pay interest by mistake (husband thought I'd paid the bill, I thought he'd paid the bill).

Every year I accrue enough points to take my family to somewhere free thanks to qantas + bank (eg WA, Tassie, NZ, Vic etc). Every second year manage an o/s trip too with the points. I like the system, and I'll keep putting everything on my credit card until they take my benefits away...even then I'd still use it for the interest free period. After all, why use your money, when you can use someone elses for free for a period of time.