Yesterday I spoke to the guy who writes AskMrCreditCard.com about cutting our grocery bills, buying premium gas, and splurging. In case you missed it you can listen here.
One idea Mr. Credit Card shared (he doesn’t use his real name on his site) was to make a grocery list for your wardrobe. He thinks his wife would buy fewer clothes if she stuck to her list. Hehehe. Not a bad idea.
I talked most of the show but I made sure to ask Mr. Credit Card for his best credit card tip. Here’s what he said.
Unless you travel frequently for work and your company lets you put the airline miles on your personal credit card, get a cash back credit card. “Some pay more than 1 percent for gas or groceries,” he said. Last year his credit card sent him a check for $400.
Some credit card companies have formed partnerships with online merchants that can earn you automatic rebates – if you know about it. Instead of going directly to a retailer, say LandsEnd.com, and buying clothes, you log into your credit card account and use their shopping portal to get to LandsEnd.com. Many credit card companies have these type of shopping portals (also known as affiliate marketing agreements) that give shoppers who make purchases with their card rebates of up to 25 percent.
“If you’re not making use of these cash rebate cards or online shopping rewards you’re really leaving a lot of money on the table,” Mr. Credit Card said.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:07 am
i always use my cash back credit card… i use it before my debit card…. i max it out ( mind you its only a 800 limit) every month putting gas and groceries on it. my tip is to pay it off every month. no interest but all the rewards… i always keep the amount that i put on my credit card aside every month to pay it off! i just cashed in last month and got 200 back
July 8th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Nice! Sounds like you are using the cash back credit card to the maximum benefit!
July 8th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
We do the same thing as Shasta…best deal EVER!