I love credit cards so much!

[WDWRook]

Why? It helps your overall credit score. Mine jumped a ton from the insanely high credit limit I got on my CSR.

Yeah, maybe it's fine. I have some (thought just some) self control. But out credit limit on our combined cards is now beyond my annual income. LOL It most certainly shot our credit scores through the roof. I was around 710-730 and after opening my CSR shot to 820.

 

[WDWRook]

Is it wrong that I'm kinda enjoying this points game?

 

[Ngwira]

Honestly, the difference in cost between them isn't huge, so if you have a preference for one over the rest I would go with that. And everyone travels differently. For DH and me, we aren't usually in our hotel room much so it matters less to us than other things. On our honeymoon road trip, we stayed several nights at Holiday Inn Express hotels. We really like them because breakfast was included and they had washing machines for us to use. If we had to choose, we would rather spend our money on activities than on expensive rooms. But maybe once we have kids, our needs and desires will change.

Thanks we decided to go with the boutique luxury hotel. We can always buy breakfast but we like to be pampered. I value your opinion though.

 

[Ngwira]

For those wondering why we do Amtrak a lot, my hubby is deathly afraid of flying so hotel redemptions make more sense with our points than airline redemptions. Having said that, he loves Disney so much that he has agreed to take a xanax and fly 3 hours to Orlando starting next year as we had a major debacle with Amtrak last year and only used them again this year due to points.

 

[mhartman09]

I pulled the trigger and applied for the CSR just now. Approved!! Woo hoo! Holy CL though. Wowza, I wasn't expecting it to be so high. Can't wait to start working on those UR points.

 

[Ngwira]

Montreal hotel and Amtrak booked. I plan to buy Montreal science center and bio dome and Montreal observation tower tickets too. Paid with the CSR for the trip protection features even though Discover is doing 5x cash back on ground transportation.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Yeah, maybe it's fine. I have some (thought just some) self control. But out credit limit on our combined cards is now beyond my annual income. LOL It most certainly shot our credit scores through the roof. I was around 710-730 and after opening my CSR shot to 820.

Our credit limits on combined cards is easily twice our income. Our credit scores are still very high. Its ridiculous how high & some people will use it, but unless I was unemployed & needed food & housing, I never use that much & pay the balance every month.

 

[peel]

Yeah, maybe it's fine. I have some (thought just some) self control. But out credit limit on our combined cards is now beyond my annual income. LOL It most certainly shot our credit scores through the roof. I was around 710-730 and after opening my CSR shot to 820.

I couldn't believe the credit limits they gave me when I opened the two SW cards last month. 18K on one and 25K on the other one. When DH opened a SW Plus card a few years ago, they only gave him a 3K limit. I don't know where they're coming up with these crazy numbers all of a sudden. It's insane, but I'll take it. We're really good with credit cards now, but it's kind of comforting to know we have 2x our annual income in open credit lines if there is some catastrophic emergency.

I don't know what to do about the CSR. Because of the two SW cards, I'm at 2/30 until after the public offer drops to 50K. I'm going to have to go into a branch I guess. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to meet the minimum spend on all 3 if I got approved for the CSR, but my cat is suddenly very ill and the vet bills are starting to pile up. I would rather that he not be sick--it's tearing me apart because he's such a wonderful buddy--but at least I'm reaching the minimum spends faster.

 

[Ngwira]

I couldn't believe the credit limits they gave me when I opened the two SW cards last month. 18K on one and 25K on the other one. When DH opened a SW Plus card a few years ago, they only gave him a 3K limit. I don't know where they're coming up with these crazy numbers all of a sudden. It's insane, but I'll take it. We're really good with credit cards now, but it's kind of comforting to know we have 2x our annual income in open credit lines if there is some catastrophic emergency.

I don't know what to do about the CSR. Because of the two SW cards, I'm at 2/30 until after the public offer drops to 50K. I'm going to have to go into a branch I guess. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to meet the minimum spend on all 3 if I got approved for the CSR, but my cat is suddenly very ill and the vet bills are starting to pile up. I would rather that he not be sick--it's tearing me apart because he's such a wonderful buddy--but at least I'm reaching the minimum spends faster.

Sorry about your cat

 

[mhartman09]

Our credit limits on combined cards is easily twice our income. Our credit scores are still very high. Its ridiculous how high & some people will use it, but unless I was unemployed & needed food & housing, I never use that much & pay the balance every month.

When I saw a $27K limit I was shocked. I already have several cash back cards with limits higher than I'd ever be willing to spend unless it was some kind of emergency. My last card was AMEX Blue Cash Everyday and I was surprised to see a $20K limit on that one. This one blew even that one out of the water.

I couldn't believe the credit limits they gave me when I opened the two SW cards last month. 18K on one and 25K on the other one. When DH opened a SW Plus card a few years ago, they only gave him a 3K limit. I don't know where they're coming up with these crazy numbers all of a sudden. It's insane, but I'll take it. We're really good with credit cards now, but it's kind of comforting to know we have 2x our annual income in open credit lines if there is some catastrophic emergency.

I don't know what to do about the CSR. Because of the two SW cards, I'm at 2/30 until after the public offer drops to 50K. I'm going to have to go into a branch I guess. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to meet the minimum spend on all 3 if I got approved for the CSR, but my cat is suddenly very ill and the vet bills are starting to pile up. I would rather that he not be sick--it's tearing me apart because he's such a wonderful buddy--but at least I'm reaching the minimum spends faster.

So sorry to hear about your cat. I know how hard it is to have a family pet fall ill suddenly and the increasing vet bills only worsen the situation.
I hear you on the minimum spends. That was another reason I decided to go with the CSR now and wait to do the two SW cards next year. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to easily reach the minimum spends on both cards. I'm just getting into all of this (with a hesitant hubs who doesn't like having credit cards to begin with) and I just figured it would be easier to stick to just worrying about the CSR spend for now. Once I have that under my belt, and hubs starts to see the benefits of this, then I'll try to take on more.

I think all the high credit lines is a major factor of what makes my hubby not like credit cards. He's always saying they are just a way to end up thousands in debt, which I totally understand. I keep reassuring him I won't be spending more than we would normally spend (all I'm doing at this point is moving our normal spend onto the new card to meet minimum spend). It took me a long time to repair my credit after college screw ups. The last thing I want is to be right back in that position by over spending simply because the limits are there to do so. However, it is a good feeling knowing if something were to happen, we would have that to fall back on if it was absolutely necessary.

 

[Ngwira]

Saved $54.00 on our Amtrak train to Montreal...forgot I had a companion fare coupon so once applied the total trip cost went from $388 to $338.00 roundtrip for 2 adults and 2 children. That $50 will more than pay for our Montreal Science Center tickets.

 

[peel]

Sorry about your cat

So sorry to hear about your cat. I know how hard it is to have a family pet fall ill suddenly and the increasing vet bills only worsen the situation.

Thank you both.
It was really unexpected, and that makes it so much worse.

 

[peel]

He's always saying they are just a way to end up thousands in debt, which I totally understand. I keep reassuring him I won't be spending more than we would normally spend (all I'm doing at this point is moving our normal spend onto the new card to meet minimum spend). It took me a long time to repair my credit after college screw ups. The last thing I want is to be right back in that position by over spending simply because the limits are there to do so. However, it is a good feeling knowing if something were to happen, we would have that to fall back on if it was absolutely necessary.

I definitely understand his concern. I never would have attempted this a few years ago because we were so bad with credit cards. Then I found YNAB (budgeting software) and it totally changed our lives. I went from staying up nights worrying about money to paying down the majority of our consumer debt and saving for expected and unexpected expenses ahead of time. We have one card that we're still paying off, but it's at 0% and it will be taken care of after we get our tax refund. That's the last of it, and unless we lose our jobs it will be the last credit card debt we ever have. Now I have complete confidence that we can take advantage of all these crazy bonus offers without adding to our debt.

 

[mhartman09]

I definitely understand his concern. I never would have attempted this a few years ago because we were so bad with credit cards. Then I found YNAB (budgeting software) and it totally changed our lives. I went from staying up nights worrying about money to paying down the majority of our consumer debt and saving for expected and unexpected expenses ahead of time. We have one card that we're still paying off, but it's at 0% and it will be taken care of after we get our tax refund. That's the last of it, and unless we lose our jobs it will be the last credit card debt we ever have. Now I have complete confidence that we can take advantage of all these crazy bonus offers without adding to our debt.

I understand his concern as well. It's easy to get wrapped up in having high credit limits and just go spend crazy. I'm at a much different place in my life now than I was and have a much better grasp on the reality of credit cards and finances as a whole. I've been seeing a lot about YNAB lately. I'm wondering if this is something I should check out, just to help me keep my head on straight with everything. Currently I just use spreadsheets for a lot, but that can be killer on my sanity sometimes. LOL

 

[peel]

I understand his concern as well. It's easy to get wrapped up in having high credit limits and just go spend crazy. I'm at a much different place in my life now than I was and have a much better grasp on the reality of credit cards and finances as a whole. I've been seeing a lot about YNAB lately. I'm wondering if this is something I should check out, just to help me keep my head on straight with everything. Currently I just use spreadsheets for a lot, but that can be killer on my sanity sometimes. LOL

I highly recommend checking out YNAB. It takes time to set up and more time to tweak it as you go forward and figure out your bills and priorities, but most people that put in the time up front end up later saying it has changed their lives. I frequent the YNAB forum (which is now invisible to the public, so you need a direct link to find it--long story) and I can't tell you how many folks have had life-changing results.

Our personal story is that 3 years ago we had almost $30K in credit card debt alone, thinking we just didn't make enough and couldn't do anything to change our situation. Now, the last of the debt will be gone by March, and we also have an extra $10K to our names. Our incomes didn't really change in that time, just our way of looking at money. We have no interest in going back to that uncertain place, so we are very vigilant about knowing where every penny of our money goes now, whether it's spent or saved for a future need. Every dollar that comes in as income is given a specific purpose in a specific category. And with the mobile apps, we enter every single transaction as we make it, so each category always truly reflects how much is left for that specific purpose. Can you tell I love the software? You said you currently work with spreadsheets--think of YNAB as a spreadsheet on steroids with a lot of complicated calculations built in.

To sort of get back on topic, now that we've stuck our feet in the credit card churning waters, it has become a little more complicated to keep track of spending, only because we have so many more accounts in YNAB. But since YNAB also accurately reflects how much you've spent and what you owe to each account, it helps me to track and verify my numbers when it comes time to pay the bills. So the bit of extra time I spend updating YNAB ends up paying off in the long run.

Edited to add: The vet called and said Marvin is doing very well right now, and they are cautiously optimistic although we don't know yet what the long term outcome will be. He's staying there at least one more day, and then we'll play it by ear, but I feel much better than I did at this time yesterday when I thought we were losing him.

 

[Albort]

For those wondering why we do Amtrak a lot, my hubby is deathly afraid of flying so hotel redemptions make more sense with our points than airline redemptions. Having said that, he loves Disney so much that he has agreed to take a xanax and fly 3 hours to Orlando starting next year as we had a major debacle with Amtrak last year and only used them again this year due to points.

Ive always wanted to do those single room up to Seattle from LA(1.5 day trip) but its so expensive ($600). Are those $200 seat only seats tolerable for a 1.5 days?

I highly recommend checking out YNAB. It takes time to set up and more time to tweak it as you go forward and figure out your bills and priorities, but most people that put in the time up front end up later saying it has changed their lives. I frequent YNAB forum (which is now invisible to the public, so you need a direct link to find it--long story) and I can't tell you how many folks have had life-changing results.

YNAB 4 or YNAB5? i feel like 5 is basically a Mint clone. i havent tried it though. i do have my student credentials to try it out for free but ive resisted using 5, still use my 4.

 

[hurt817]

Woo hoo got approved for the CSR! So glad I got in before they did away with the 100k offer! Thanks for the heads up about it going away! I love these boards...... such great info - I've learned so much!

 

[peel]

YNAB 4 or YNAB5? i feel like 5 is basically a Mint clone. i havent tried it though. i do have my student credentials to try it out for free but ive resisted using 5, still use my 4.

YNAB4! Yeah, I haven't switched to 5 and I don't plan to. I hear it performs much better than Mint, but I personally am not on board with the changes they've made to the methodology. That being said, I don't dissuade new users from trying the current version because they have nothing to compare it to. People seem to love the new one if they hadn't been exposed to the old one. Financier is on track to be a solid equivalent to YNAB4, so when the wheels come off and it doesn't work anymore I'll probably switch to that since I'm used to the way certain things are handled by 4 that they didn't build into 5 (which is technically just called YNAB...YNAB4 is now called Classic).

 

[Albort]

Woo hoo got approved for the CSR! So glad I got in before they did away with the 100k offer! Thanks for the heads up about it going away! I love these boards...... such great info - I've learned so much!

just applied as well, also instant approved...

i officially have the old Quadfecta. lol damn preferred business card, just had to come out lol.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I couldn't believe the credit limits they gave me when I opened the two SW cards last month. 18K on one and 25K on the other one. When DH opened a SW Plus card a few years ago, they only gave him a 3K limit. I don't know where they're coming up with these crazy numbers all of a sudden. It's insane, but I'll take it. We're really good with credit cards now, but it's kind of comforting to know we have 2x our annual income in open credit lines if there is some catastrophic emergency.

I don't know what to do about the CSR. Because of the two SW cards, I'm at 2/30 until after the public offer drops to 50K. I'm going to have to go into a branch I guess. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to meet the minimum spend on all 3 if I got approved for the CSR, but my cat is suddenly very ill and the vet bills are starting to pile up. I would rather that he not be sick--it's tearing me apart because he's such a wonderful buddy--but at least I'm reaching the minimum spends faster.

Sorry about kitty My pup ended up at an emergency clinic the weekend after I got my SPG card. Met over half the spend bonus that weekend. Fortunately she is doing better. Hope your kitty recovers.