managing cards and spending

[nishant1]

Forgot to add one thing.

I use only cash for luxury items. My experience is that I am more careful while spending cash , less careful with credit cards and least careful with gift cards.

Therefore, from last year I stopped buying gift cards for myself even though 5% cash back seemed attractive then.

[frugalQ]

I run everything through my credit cards (except those bills I cannot). My budget is a zero sum budget...and it spans across the entire year (for future planning purposes).

It has been working really well for me. By adding what I plan to pay on CC each month, and adding all my charges against that payment, I've been surprisingly disciplined in my discretionary spending.

[thom02099]

Like others here, I run just about everything through my credit cards.  Specific cards for specific functions and bills.  I used to run everything through my debit card, but it just makes more sense to use the credit cards I have available and get rewards where applicable. 

I track them by logging in to my accounts daily.  I've been able to see the trends of which cards take longer to process and set up my payments accordingly.  For example, if it's coming up to the end of the month and I know that my AMEX cards have a payment due date of the 2nd day of the new month, I'll either hold off on charging through AMEX and go to another card where the payment due is in the middle of the month, or if the AMEX charge is processing, I'll just go ahead and pay ahead. 

I also have the calendar in my DROID set to remind me of all my payments, with alerts on the day due, 24hours before and 2 days before, so I get multiple reminders.  I also have the accounts themselves set to send me emails when due, typically 7-10 days prior.  That way I don't miss a payment...EVER!

[MovingForward_2012]

I should add that I never use all my savings to buy bulk items (as someone else put it, luxury items). In fact, I spend a very small amount of my savings for those items when needed except under rare circumstances when I am replenishing my savings account in the $5,000 dollar range before the next statement cuts, then I will spend a larger %. That happens when I am buying a house, and reserves are floating from different places, to buy furniture and other household items in bulk. Or around Christmas time as it occurs near my yearly bonus.

Buying in bulk is nice because in the end I have a house full of furniture or a closet full of new clothes instead of one chair and one shirt. I am not easily tempted by sales because I know I already got the full package instead of saying, well at the last sale I only got some shirts and now I need pants. When I buy in bulk, I do try to buy when a major sale is going on though.

[ceemee2203]

I use Mint, but I also have an excel budget that I use to log all payments.

I used to use quicken but I'm always on my chromebook and having a spreadsheet forces me to characterize every payment. It makes me look at every charge (or check, or debit) that I make and justify them. I even put down every time I transfer money to my savings account because it takes money out of my monthly available spend. 

Mint is good at giving me an overall analysis of what's going on in my accounts. It also lets me know at a glanse what my balances are in my savings, checking, brokerage, credit card, etc. accounts at once. You can even spit charges, which I use when something is reimbursable. (E.g., I have a Schwab Investor Checking Account) and ATM fees for ANY ATM anywhere are reimbursed at the end of the month.) I split that out from any cash that I might take out.

But I don't usually use cash. I put everything on my card (and pay attention to every time I swipe it). I find it easier to keep track of the dollars and cents. 

I also think that having a separate savings account (one that is not at the same bank as your checking account) is a good thing. I have an AMEX savings where I keep the buld of my money. I also have an ING savings where I'm starting to put money that I saving for my vacation at the end of this year. I have a Schwab checking account (and a couple other accounts but they don't matter really). Keeping the most of my money in my AMEX savings makes me need to keep a minimum balance in my Schwab checking account because otherwise, if something were to come up and I'd need money immediately, I'd have to wait 3 days for it to transfer out. 

I pay everything the day the bill arrives, but I pay my credit card bill before the statement cuts. I only have $9500 in credit between 2 cards, but I have no desire to run out and apply for new cards or CLI at the moment, so it's just better for me to pay it all and keep my utlization down to 0 when the statement cuts. I mostly use my AMEX but I use my other card for some recurring bills, and I have my bank autopay for those (by sending money to my CC) the day the charges hit. As I backup, I have autopay setup as well.

I use One Receipt. If you have Chrome, there's an extension that allows you to see your receipts in Mint or even your CC's online website (like AMEX) so you know what you spent whatever on. This is great if you do a lot of online shopping, but you can also input your own receipts and it's not just for credit card payments.

But for all of this you have to be willing to be a little anal about your money and your spending habits. You have to take the blinders off what you spend, when you spend,   where you spend, how you spend, etc. 

[bs6054]

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@thom02099 wrote:

Like others here, I run just about everything through my credit cards.  Specific cards for specific functions and bills.  I used to run everything through my debit card, but it just makes more sense to use the credit cards I have available and get rewards where applicable. 

I track them by logging in to my accounts daily.  I've been able to see the trends of which cards take longer to process and set up my payments accordingly.  For example, if it's coming up to the end of the month and I know that my AMEX cards have a payment due date of the 2nd day of the new month, I'll either hold off on charging through AMEX and go to another card where the payment due is in the middle of the month, or if the AMEX charge is processing, I'll just go ahead and pay ahead. 

I also have the calendar in my DROID set to remind me of all my payments, with alerts on the day due, 24hours before and 2 days before, so I get multiple reminders.  I also have the accounts themselves set to send me emails when due, typically 7-10 days prior.  That way I don't miss a payment...EVER!

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What's wrong with auto-pay?

[thom02099]

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@bs6054 wrote:

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@thom02099 wrote:

Like others here, I run just about everything through my credit cards.  Specific cards for specific functions and bills.  I used to run everything through my debit card, but it just makes more sense to use the credit cards I have available and get rewards where applicable. 

I track them by logging in to my accounts daily.  I've been able to see the trends of which cards take longer to process and set up my payments accordingly.  For example, if it's coming up to the end of the month and I know that my AMEX cards have a payment due date of the 2nd day of the new month, I'll either hold off on charging through AMEX and go to another card where the payment due is in the middle of the month, or if the AMEX charge is processing, I'll just go ahead and pay ahead. 

I also have the calendar in my DROID set to remind me of all my payments, with alerts on the day due, 24hours before and 2 days before, so I get multiple reminders.  I also have the accounts themselves set to send me emails when due, typically 7-10 days prior.  That way I don't miss a payment...EVER!

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What's wrong with auto-pay?

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Absolutely nothing!  Great tool for those who want to use it. 

[MovingForward_2012]

For me, if I know exactly how much I have, I will eventually spend it. I mentally underestimate so then I am nicely rewarded at the end of the month. I am a home body too...don't go out a lot and once we move in our new house in a couple of weeks, I'm really going to be at home fixing it up stuff and just enjoying it all. I think as you get older, you get more conservative. Certain financial disasters can turn someone into being fiscally responsible as well. I have a really great memory of all my due dates, etc. in my brain and it gives my brain a nice exercise! I think only you know yourself and if you feel doing it all in your head will get you in trouble or has gotten you in trouble already, then a spreadsheet or some other type of money management tool is ideal for you. Everyone's mind works differently so you may need to try out different tools to find the best one that works for you. I have a financial rhythm, same beat every month. If you can find the beat, you're golden as long as the beat isn't negative! LOL! :-)

[thom02099]

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@MovingForward_2012 wrote:
For me, if I know exactly how much I have, I will eventually spend it. I mentally underestimate so then I am nicely rewarded at the end of the month. I am a home body too...don't go out a lot and once we move in our new house in a couple of weeks, I'm really going to be at home fixing it up stuff and just enjoying it all. I think as you get older, you get more conservative. Certain financial disasters can turn someone into being fiscally responsible as well. I have a really great memory of all my due dates, etc. in my brain and it gives my brain a nice exercise! I think only you know yourself and if you feel doing it all in your head will get you in trouble or has gotten you in trouble already, then a spreadsheet or some other type of money management tool is ideal for you. Everyone's mind works differently so you may need to try out different tools to find the best one that works for you. I have a financial rhythm, same beat every month. If you can find the beat, you're golden as long as the beat isn't negative! LOL! :-)

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+1 ! ! ! !   True Dat ! ! !