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The Edukator

The Edukator

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Nov 9, 2010
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Hi Bigfooty

I'm looking at getting a CC and want to know in your opinions which ones offer the best rewards and bang for buck.

Have you uncovered any good schemes recently where you can get a bunch of points up front and then cut loose after x period and move to another CC without incurring any costs?

My expenses aren't huge so i'm not looking for a huge limit but I'm comfortable with fronting payments for friends/room mates to earn more points and having them pay me back. I'm more interested in the rewards and have enough savings/discipline that I won't struggle to make payments so IR isn't a concern either really.

TE
 
The Edukator said:
Hi Bigfooty

I'm looking at getting a CC and want to know in your opinions which ones offer the best rewards and bang for buck.

Have you uncovered any good schemes recently where you can get a bunch of points up front and then cut loose after x period and move to another CC without incurring any costs?

My expenses aren't huge so i'm not looking for a huge limit but I'm comfortable with fronting payments for friends/room mates to earn more points and having them pay me back. I'm more interested in the rewards and have enough savings/discipline that I won't struggle to make payments so IR isn't a concern either really.

TE
Click to expand...

A quick point to maximise value of the card - rather than a "Credit Card", treat it like an expense card - it MUST be cleared every pay-cycle (week, fortnight, month).

If you have the discipline you can play the "55" day game, but for most people access to a CC changes the way they shop, increases their overall expenses AND they then get caught with interest charges if they are unable to clear the card.
 
Simon_Nesbit said:
A quick point to maximise value of the card - rather than a "Credit Card", treat it like an expense card - it MUST be cleared every pay-cycle (week, fortnight, month).

If you have the discipline you can play the "55" day game, but for most people access to a CC changes the way they shop, increases their overall expenses AND they then get caught with interest charges if they are unable to clear the card.
Click to expand...

This pretty much my mindset already anyway. I track every dollar I spend with an app so the only time my weekly budget blows out is when I buy bigger ticket items with a bit of forethought and planning.
 

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The Edukator said:
My expenses aren't huge so i'm not looking for a huge limit but I'm comfortable with fronting payments for friends/room mates to earn more points and having them pay me back. I'm more interested in the rewards and have enough savings/discipline that I won't struggle to make payments so IR isn't a concern either really.TE
Click to expand...

this idea is a recipe strained or broken friendships & empty pockets, good luck !
 
I don't think rewards points are ever really worth the effort on a credit card for the average punter. I put all my expenses on it and clear it at the end of the month and I might end up with $100 cash back for the year after paying the annual fee. I have a family member who owns their own business and puts 100s of thousands of inventory across a card and they will get an overseas trip out of it a year but unless you own a business or are Clive Palmer or someone it's pretty pointless.
 
Yeah would make sense to put everything on the card, leaving extra cash in the offset account, then wiping after 55 days.

Personally I don't have the self control for that, after my pay, it all gets split into different accounts bills, mortgage, spending, savings, then I just piss up my spending money on the stupidest of things in the first week and am broke until payday (fortnightly).

I would def get caught out with a CC.

I racked up 5k of debt when I was 19 on a cc on absolutely nothing, was such a headache getting rid of the debt which plagued me for the rest of uni, 4 years until I got a proper job and knocked it off. I've got mates now in early 30s that did the same thing and now up to 30k cc debt, they have good paying jobs (easy 6 figure) but live outside their means (rent nice place, nice restaurants, lease nice cars etc) plus paying interest on all that cc debt, doubt they will ever buy a home.
 
Kruzering said:
Yeah would make sense to put everything on the card, leaving extra cash in the offset account, then wiping after 55 days.

Personally I don't have the self control for that, after my pay, it all gets split into different accounts bills, mortgage, spending, savings, then I just piss up my spending money on the stupidest of things in the first week and am broke until payday (fortnightly).

I would def get caught out with a CC.

I racked up 5k of debt when I was 19 on a cc on absolutely nothing, was such a headache getting rid of the debt which plagued me for the rest of uni, 4 years until I got a proper job and knocked it off. I've got mates now in early 30s that did the same thing and now up to 30k cc debt, they have good paying jobs (easy 6 figure) but live outside their means (rent nice place, nice restaurants, lease nice cars etc) plus paying interest on all that cc debt, doubt they will ever buy a home.
Click to expand...

I'm staggered by how financially illiterate some people are.
 
I've got two credit cards, a $500 one and a $3,000 one. The money is there is I need it and it's there as a last resort if I need to use the total two cards all up ($3,500) but I've learnt that over using credit cards can lead to trouble. Use credit cards as if you would with a debit card (with the odd splurge/over spending), the temptation is that some people look at credit cards and think "gee wow look at all that money I can spend" trouble is, whatever you do spend you have to pay back.

If you have the discipline for a credit card then have one but if you don't then don't have one. I'd also suggest having cash in the bank too and solely relying on credit cards, it just makes sense to have a handy amount of cash in a bank account.
 

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I just received this email from Virgin Money:

"Your credit on your terms.

It's fast, and flexible. Your instalments are conveniently included in your monthly statements. And any amount you pay off becomes available for you to use again. Easy!

Right now, here's what you can convert with no interest:

Cash amount: From $500 up to $17486*
Upfront fee for 6 months: 1.99%
Upfront fee for 12 months: 3.99%
Offer ends: 10-Aug-2024

*Maximum amount shown within this email is indicative based on account assessed date on 09-Jul-2024 and may change due to recent account activity. You can check the amount currently available on your Virgin Money Online account."

Looking at the 12 month option, if I had an offset account for a mortgage, would it not make sense to transfer the maximum $17486 from this credit card into my offset account, so that I'd only be paying 3.99% interest on that money which means there's $17486 less that the bank charges me ~6% interest on in the offset account?
 

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