topic Re: App for CC Management? in Credit Cards

App for CC Management?

kshurika — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 23:28:55 GMT

Those of you with a large number of CCs might know this. There seems to be an app for everything, so, is there an app that helps you manage your numerous credit cards with their credit lines, rewards, points, closing dates, report dates, etc.?

I'm organizationally challenged.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 23:32:20 GMT

I have a spreadsheet.

Re: App for CC Management?

FinStar — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 23:35:35 GMT

Similarly, I built a database.

I'm sure lots of folks use Mint or other decent apps.

Re: App for CC Management?

Gmood1 — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 23:36:17 GMT

I use https://www.mint.com . It works most of the time. The number of accounts I have throws it in a tail spin for certain lenders sometimes. It's good for tracking bank accounts and other financial accounts as well.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 00:21:20 GMT

I am a paper pencil person.

I keep the majority of my due dates/ closing dates/ credit limits in my head though. Do not ask how.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 02:54:08 GMT

I have all mine in my head too. But, I created an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with it all. I am obsessive about looking at it, and my accounts, to make sure nothing is awry and that I haven't missed anything.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 02:57:42 GMT

For all the spreadsheet people, what is the value of your time! (Unless, as I suspect, most of the people that do this enjoy it). Set up autopay in full on due date and enjoy your freed up time!

Not quite managing in the same sense but there are apps like Wallaby aimed at telling you the best card to use for a particular purchase.

Re: App for CC Management?

thornback — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 03:06:45 GMT

I keep a spreadsheet to determine what pre-statement pay-downs are necessary to maintain low (<2%) util. Autopay to payoff anything remaining by the due date.

Re: App for CC Management?

wasCB14 — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 05:53:05 GMT

I have cards from only five issuers and all my statements cut around the 28th or 29th. I have autopay set up, but usually make manual payments early each month, which cancels the automatic payment.

I once had a Citi CSR delete my autopay settings (by disabling my login), but I fortunately noticed in time. That experience will keep me from relying purely on automatic payments for a while.

Re: App for CC Management?

UpperNwGuy — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:14:20 GMT

I like to stay on top of my finances at all times, and that means no autopay for me. If your smart phone has a calendar app, just put in the credit card due dates as repeating appointments, and your phone will remind you of an upcoming payment.

Re: App for CC Management?

xXIDaShizIXx — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:24:31 GMT

I stick with Mint as well. Tried YNAB, but its' import feature leaves much to be desired.

Re: App for CC Management?

Gmood1 — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:24:45 GMT

I'm an auto pay guy and Mint sends me reminders as well as the issuers are set to send me a reminder days before payments are due. Plus mint catches fraudulent activity normally before you see it. I'd like to see pencil and paper do that. lol

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:54:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
For all the spreadsheet people, what is the value of your time! (Unless, as I suspect, most of the people that do this enjoy it). Set up autopay in full on due date and enjoy your freed up time!

Not quite managing in the same sense but there are apps like Wallaby aimed at telling you the best card to use for a particular purchase.

I've been writing my own web-app for managing finances entirely, including credit cards. I'm adding my own features like CLI reminders, 5/24 reminders, forecasting, cash flow forecasting, etc. Since it's my own site and code, no useless ads or fako data.

Why do this versus just autopay? It isn't about "saving time", it's about being cognizant of my spending habits. I really like manually entering things so I am going to retire Mint soon because Mint is just another game to get people to THINK they are in control when it's practically another idiot box like cable TV has become.

I love being able to sit down and type in my spend into each card. It helps me stay focused on my spend. I like seeing my own customized graphs to remind me that the $50 I was under budget has the potential to grow to $300 in the future so those tiny purchases I avoided have real potential instead of just being more clutter to deal with.

The automation of finance is an ugly thing, I think. I have everything set up on autopay "just in case", but I don't like it. I like being personally responsible for my time, my income and my expenses.

I hear a LOT from people who tell me they're "too busy" to do finances this way, but then I see them talking about 500 different news topics that have no effect on their lives, and I don't think they're actually too busy, I think they're too distracted.

Just my 2 cents (which could be worth a dime in 25 years if invested wisely!)

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:35:19 GMT

I use 1Password to store all my credit cards info and Bobby to remind me of due dates.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 14:40:09 GMT

I have a budget in Excel with paycheck dates, credit card due dates, estimated rewards, IRA contributions, loans, insurance, rent, electric, etc. listed for the next three years. There's a running balance column so I know if I can afford purchases ahead of time and my bank account won't fall beneath the minimum. It didn’t take too much time to create and gives me a peace of mind.

And I have autopay set up to PIF, but frequently log into each account and keep an eye on things. I don't trust any one company enough to store all my financial data. Seems like companies are interested in playing catch up when it comes to security, rather than ensuring strong industry standards from the start.

*places tin hat back on head*

Re: App for CC Management?

joltdude — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 14:52:14 GMT

Sort of like Mint but they leave a bad taste ... Been slowly moving to Clarity Money, but also use Personal Capital for apps....

Kinda gave up on trying to create a good excel spreadsheet to put my data into...... Still on the lookout for one thats pretty quick and easy to enter stuff into....

Im of the opinion of what works for you works for you... Ill admit im a bit cheap.. YNAB just doesn't do anything for me that i already kinda do myself...

Try some different options out and see what works for you. Might need a combo of more than one solution...

-J

Re: App for CC Management?

expatCanuck — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 01:55:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a spreadsheet.

For my 2017 credit rehab, I created a spreadsheet that let me know how far I was from various percentage thresholds, both cumulatively and for any given card. Happened to include due date & statement date, most recent amount & percentage reported and previous amount & percentage reported. Having the numbers in front of me and being able to see my progress provided motivation and incentive to stay on track. And if I slipped up, that was visible too. (Conditional formatting is my friend.)

Happily, all the current balances but one are now at zero, with all reported balances but one to be at zero by month's end.

Re: App for CC Management?

CreditInspired — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 00:17:10 GMT

Cam

I thought I was the only one who did that. I swear, I’m addicted to the spreadsheet. And what’s crazy, I enjoy tinkering with it.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 00:25:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
For all the spreadsheet people, what is the value of your time! (Unless, as I suspect, most of the people that do this enjoy it). Set up autopay in full on due date and enjoy your freed up time!

Not quite managing in the same sense but there are apps like Wallaby aimed at telling you the best card to use for a particular purchase.
I've been writing my own web-app for managing finances entirely, including credit cards. I'm adding my own features like CLI reminders, 5/24 reminders, forecasting, cash flow forecasting, etc. Since it's my own site and code, no useless ads or fako data.

Why do this versus just autopay? It isn't about "saving time", it's about being cognizant of my spending habits. I really like manually entering things so I am going to retire Mint soon because Mint is just another game to get people to THINK they are in control when it's practically another idiot box like cable TV has become.

I love being able to sit down and type in my spend into each card. It helps me stay focused on my spend. I like seeing my own customized graphs to remind me that the $50 I was under budget has the potential to grow to $300 in the future so those tiny purchases I avoided have real potential instead of just being more clutter to deal with.

The automation of finance is an ugly thing, I think. I have everything set up on autopay "just in case", but I don't like it. I like being personally responsible for my time, my income and my expenses.

I hear a LOT from people who tell me they're "too busy" to do finances this way, but then I see them talking about 500 different news topics that have no effect on their lives, and I don't think they're actually too busy, I think they're too distracted.

Just my 2 cents (which could be worth a dime in 25 years if invested wisely!)

For general budgeting and cash-flow analyis, I agree that this sort of thing can be time well spent, especially if you find limitations with the available tools.

But I get the impression, perhaps wrongly, that most people's credit card spreadsheet aren't like that, more reminders of when a payment is due, which, IMO, doesn't add a whole lot of value over autopay.

Re: App for CC Management?

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 00:55:59 GMT

Yeah my web app is being guinea pigged by twenty others i met online who also had massively complex spreadsheets. So I'm getting real time ideas and functions for data entry or forecasting.

It also reminds me to do CLI requests and even reminds me which free credit monitoring site to refresh in certain days.

Plus it forecasts everything out many years if desired and this week I'm coding utilization warnings based on cash flow and current transactions input. Complex if people want it, simple if they don't.

I need to enter data, the automated systems just leave me never knowing. Plus I hate ads.