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Tell me if you think this isn't a smart idea
DH and I have talked about opening a joint rewards credit card. We currently don't have an active cc. Our main reason for having it is to be able to earn a little something back for our normal purchases we'd be making anyway (gas and groceries are the 2 things we'd be mainly using it for).
Here's a quick overview of our financials - tell me what you think.
We have both our car loans and his student loan. I don't necessarily consider these bad debt to have.
Our 'bad debt' is as follows:
-TV which will be paid off after this month
-wedding rings which is only a couple hundred bucks left
-my old (closed) credit card. this is the largest debt we have left - and it's under $2k. It should be able to be paid off within the next 6 months or so. At least that's our goal.
Are we stupid to open up something? Like I said we've already discussed what it would be used for and it would be gas and groceries - stuff that we have to get anyway, let's at least earn a little something for it. Thoughts please?
Re: Tell me if you think this isn't a smart idea
my read shelf:
Books read in 2011: 32 of 75
id say as long as you pay it off in full at the end of each month, i dont see a problem. its when you say, oh..we'll get it paid off in a 3 month plan or something then it always takes longer and that's where you can get yourselves into trouble. though, sounds like you have good heads on your shoulders and wouldnt be spending anything you dont have. it might even help with your credit history in case some day you want to purchase a home or something
House Renovations
Married Bio
I am a gluten-free, gun-toting wife! :P
I love you, Daddy...2/24/1953 to 2/13/2011
I don't think it's a bad idea at all. You guys sound pretty responsible.
But if you're uneasy about the CC, what about opening up a joing checking instead (assuming you don't already have one)?? DH and I didn't open up a checking acct together until after we were married, and it is solely for our together purchases (house, groceries, bills for house). We each put a specified amount per paycheck into this account. We also kept our separate accounts (that our pacy checks go into), with which we each pay for car payments and student loans (me).
If you're just trying to build credit though, then the CC is the way to go. I still don't have a CC. I wanted to wait until we were married and I became a dependent on H to go through USAA because they've got really good rates. I need to get on it!
I think it is a good move, as long as you are smart about it. Like anything, spend wisely and keep track of how much you are spending so you do not take advantage of the card and spend more each month than you typically would. Make sure you pay it off in full each month so you do not have to pay interest. If you pay online, there is a way to pay the exact balance amount from the month before on the latest possible date. This allows you to hold on to your money as long as possible.
I use a rewards card and pay just about all of my expenses on it. I use it to pay for groceries, gas, and some bills. It is a great way to get some money back on things you will buy anyway.
I say go for it if you think you can stick to these things! Good luck!
RIP Dr. Irving Fishman - 10/1/19-7/25/10 - thank you for holding on for me.
You made my wedding day complete.
I agree with all the PP about just being smart about using a credit card.
I used to be so anti CC until I saw how much money you can make from having one! The best one for rewards is Discover....but they don't take some places. So we went with American Express Zync. I only spend on that card, and then pay it off in full every month. The interest rate is really high, so it is dumb to hold a balance on it. You do have to be organized and keep up with how much you are spending compared to how much you have in checking to pay it off! Also, you get double points for everyday stuff like gas, groceries, post office, etc.
Ha! I sound like a commercial! But I really do love it! Soon we are going to buy a flight with the points I've made!
I'm very anti-CC, but we do have one that we use when making large purchases because of the spending limit on our debit card (for security purposes). However, it does sound like you guys are really responsible financially, and if you're only using it for the purchases you say you are, I don't see any harm in it. Just be sure you stick to only using it for those things.
We used to have the Amazon rewards CC, and it worked out really nicely because we would purchase all of my textbooks with it. We got $50 reward checks fairly frequently. It was pretty nice! We never purchased more than we could pay off automatically, but we were purchasing stuff we didn't necessarily need with it, so we decided to get rid of it.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Bottom line, I think if used in the way you guys are planning, it will be beneficial to you. If you go onto the Money Matters board (I only lurk there, but I love it), they often post about the different rewards CC's and which are the best.