Credit Card: Cash Back/Rewards: Is It Worth It?
Question by Autumn Leaves: Credit Card: Cash Back/Rewards: Is It Worth It?
My credit card company sent a letter saying I’m eligible for cash back and rewards. The cash back is 1% on all purchases, in my case that will amount to almost nothing. To find out the rewards I have to register. Is it worth the trouble? Aren’t there a lot of hidden charges? Isn’t this going to be a spam magnet? Thanks for any help.
Best answer:
Answer by chica_zarca
It depends on the card and the company really. As long as you take the time to read the fine print, you should be fine.
I have a Citi credit card, I got 5% cash back on supermarkets, gas stations, and drug stores for the first 6 months and 2% afterwards, and 1% on everything else. It adds up slowly but surely. I racked up almost 0 in cash back points in just a year. That’s 0 that I can use whenever I want later on.
At least with Citi, there’s no hidden charges or spam or anything. It’s perfectly safe. I don’t know about other cards though. Feel free to call their help line and ask, and don’t let them talk you into anything you don’t want.
Also, be careful, some companies charge annually just for the “privilege” of using their cards. Don’t do it. There are plenty of other free cards out there, don’t pay.
Personally, I charge just about EVERYTHING just to get the cash back. When you really think about it, it doesn’t make an ounce of difference whether you take out of an ATM and use cash, or just charge it and pay the bill out of your bank account once a month. At least charging gets you the cash back. Plus credit card companies typically have much better fraud protection than bank/ATM cards. And another plus is it builds credit for when you need it later in life (car loans, home loans, etc)…
BUUUT I only suggest doing that if you are good at keeping track (mentally or physically) of how much your spending and won’t outspend yourself or go over your credit limit… Also make sure you pay it on time, or there’s like, a late fee. Plus the interest rate is typically 12-15%, so on a 0 bill, that’s -75! As long as you pay the full amount, on time, every month, then the interest rate doesn’t really matter, but if a day every comes where you miss the bill or don’t pay the whole thing, it will suck… So be careful. Credit can be amazing and awful at the same time, lol.
Here’s Citi’s reward cards if you want to check them out….
https://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/showSearchResults.do?category=CC_REWARDS
Good luck!!! Happy spending!
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