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Using Credit Cards to pay for bills?

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zeusta20
Established Contributor

Re: Using Credit Cards to pay for bills?

Similar to what people have said on here already, you just gotta find your process.

 

For me, I'm ALMOST there, but I feel like I've finally found out what works for me so I avoid overspending. I just transfer the money from my checking to my savings, and put in the memo line, the credit card company So I know whose it is for. So i'll transfer and put 200.00-Chase or 456.32- AMEX, etc.

 

Find out what works for you, and run with it. Once you find what works for you, you'll be paying everything with CC's.lol.

Bank of America Cash Rewards Visa Sig-15k
Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite-10k
Chase Freedom-4k
1st Financial Bank USA-11.4k
USAA Amex-7.5k
USAA Visa Sig-7k
Citi Thank you Preferred-4.8k
Citi Diamond-2k
Amex Gold-NPSL

FICO8-11/2017
EX: 737
EQ: 722
TU: 735
Message 21 of 24
tattooedhusker
Established Contributor

Re: Using Credit Cards to pay for bills?

Glad this got brought up, because I was thinking about doing the same exact thing. I've never been able to do it up til last week ($300 CL held me down for too long!), but getting my Discover IT and Chase Freedom allows me to do so. I never thought I'd break the slump, but I did, and it feels great!

NFCU CashRewards $13.5k | AMEX BCE $15k | Lowes $17k | Sportsmanss guide $7.6k | Chase Freedom $1k | Discover IT $4.4k |
Walmart $8k | Gordman's $2950
Message 22 of 24
ceemee2203
Regular Contributor

Re: Using Credit Cards to pay for bills?


@Rhaeny wrote:

@Chris123nTx wrote:
While i agree with the others here for the most part, only you know you and your financial disipline. If you have ever had issues letting balances run, orbif there are times that a person is close on the edge with money for a month or two, then be careful. Using cc for rewards can be great. I personally dont let big balances run up and have to even think about paying a big bill, so i use andnpay multiple times a month. Guess what i mean is, if there is a chance you will ever run balances and have to pay interest, it can negate what you get in rewards. Others will charge the heck out of a card and cut one payment a month. Figure out what is comfortable and go for it.

+1

 

Yes it does take discipline to use this method of paying your bills on your CC.  I just deduct the amount that I should pay for each bill from my checkbook balance and that's what rules!  The checkbook balance!  Doesn't matter what the bank balance says because the checkbook balance is the master in this case.  So when the CC bill is due I know I have the funds to PIF.

 

Now I seen people stray from this and keep looking at their bank balance and seeing a huge amount of money sitting in there, but they always need to keep in mind that all of that money is accounted for to pay something else.  If you fail this portion, then yes the next thing you'll know is that you are racking up debt that you shouldn't have because you're not paying your monthly bills.  

 

I've become very consistent in my method and it works for me.  Everyone has to do what's best for them, but at the end of the day it all boils down to self-discipline.


I do this with Mint. It shows your pending transactions, so you see your online balance and the available cash you have to spend. 

 

 

I'd like to use my CC's to pay my bills, but most of them have a service fee, so I've just stuck with Pageonce to pay my bills instantly. I don't see the 3% fee as worth the potential rewards that I could get. But, if you can pay your bills without the fee (or if the rewards outweigh the fee) then I say go fo it.

Current Cards: AMEX Everyday ($15k), AMEX BCE ($20k), Amex Platinum, Arrival ($11.5k), Merrill+ ($7.5k), Freedom ($5k), Double Cash ($6.5k)

2/16 - 864 Fico EQ (CITI); 818 Fico Ex (AMEX)
Message 23 of 24
Open123
Super Contributor

Re: Using Credit Cards to pay for bills?


@henchita wrote:

Just wondering if anyone does this...lately I keep using either checks and bank card to pay for my bills, so I was thinking if its coming out of my bank account anyways why not use my credit card that offers me rewards to pay for those things???  Is this a stupid idea?? or does everyone do this and I am just the last one on earth?


Not stupid at all.  Matter of fact, extremely prudent to do so.  A little rebate is infinitely superior to none at all.

 

Just make sure you factor in any "fee" charged to credit card transactions.  You can often limit the fees by prepaying or finding creative ways to circumvent them.  For example, my utility charges a flat $1.50 per charge. I'll just prepay $500, and just pay again when it runs out.

 

Highly recommend you pay all your bills with a rewards CC if you can.  These days, I take into consideration whether or not a vendor or landlord charges extra for processing a CC before hiring or paying for their services and/or products.

Message 24 of 24
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