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Yeah he's responsible he just hasn't been enlightened about credit yet. Ill recommend him to these boards lol. But yeah I told him to apply for a credit card over the summer and he was at the stage where only capital one secured would approve him.
@Anonymous wrote:Yeah he's responsible he just hasn't been enlightened about credit yet. Ill recommend him to these boards lol. But yeah I told him to apply for a credit card over the summer and he was at the stage where only capital one secured would approve him.
No problem with that. That was where I started my rebuild.
OP- an authorized user gets the benefits, credit-score wise, whether he actually gets a physical card or not. I could see how you might think having him help you earn the bonus would be worth it, but you are playing with fire. He may make a purchase the day before your statement cuts (messing up utilization, number of cards with balance). He may be tempted to use the card on something he'll have the money for "next week" (next week is always next week), etc.
But its your decision. I hope you don't pay for your kindness. As to ways you can hit the target spend:
1. pay your insurance premiums with a credit card (you can often pre-pay if you are anywhere near renewal).
2. use amazon payments to send money to someone, up to 1000/month (not yourself, despite what the interwebs say, its a setup for getting your card closed),
3. kiva- yes, you run the risk of not being repaid, but they claim a 98% repayment rate. So you loan a third world farmer some cash, he pays you back when the crop sells (for example), you get the miles and your money back, eventually.
4. charitable donations- if you itemize, time is running out to hit your max deduction. Use a card for the donation, get the points/bonus, your charity gets the benefit of your cash, you get some benefit from tax deduction.
5. There are other ways to make the minimum, but would only use if you are running out of time, as they all have fees: auto loan, mortgage (through chargesmart.com, watch out for the "large payment fee"), taxes (several sites, expect to pay about 3% fee).
Hope this helps. I wouldn't have had to look any of these up if the card had gotten here before Xmas shopping was done (it didn't), so may have to at least use Amazon payments to send some money to the wife. I'll probably hit the spend anyway, but it is nice to not have to stress.
Never just buy something you would otherwise not have, had you no spending requirement to make.
@Repo-ed wrote:Never just buy something you would otherwise not have, had you no spending requirement to make.
+1000000!!!!!!
@Repo-ed wrote:Never just buy something you would otherwise not have, had you no spending requirement to make.
+1. Yeah that's what I'm trying really hard not to do
I typically spend $600 a month on bills such as gas, phone, gym, cable, etc. If I had to charge more, I'd put purchases that I normally pay with cash on the card such as lunch and coffee. Whenever I sign up for these promo offers, I always make sure it coincides with my car insurance payment (I pay twice a year in six-month installments).
I wouldn't get nervous so soon though. You have plenty of time.
@Kendro wrote:I typically spend $600 a month on bills such as gas, phone, gym, cable, etc. If I had to charge more, I'd put purchases that I normally pay with cash on the card such as lunch and coffee. Whenever I sign up for these promo offers, I always make sure it coincides with my car insurance payment (I pay twice a year in six-month installments).
I wouldn't get nervous so soon though. You have plenty of time.
Yeah I luckily got approved in time for holiday shopping. Was originally going to apply sometime in march next year. If that was the case then I would have to worry
@Kendro wrote:I typically spend $600 a month on bills such as gas, phone, gym, cable, etc. If I had to charge more, I'd put purchases that I normally pay with cash on the card such as lunch and coffee. Whenever I sign up for these promo offers, I always make sure it coincides with my car insurance payment (I pay twice a year in six-month installments).
I wouldn't get nervous so soon though. You have plenty of time.
THIS!
I will be doing this if I get either the BCP or Freedom which both have promo bonuses.