Don’t Pay With Cash Unless You Have To

March 19, 2019February 11, 2019 by Money Beagle

Do you pay with cash or swipe a card? Some will swear that paying with cash can save you money. After all, you’re only spending what you have on hand. This is definitely true, but that doesn’t mean cash is king.

Why We Don’t Pay With Cash

For our spending purposes, we rarely pay with cash. The only times we do is when we have no other choice. We don’t think paying with cash is necessarily a bad idea. It just seems that using a card works better and offers us a few more advantages. Here are a few.

Credit Card Rewards

We do most of our spending on three different cards. They all provide different rewards. We pick the card we use in order to maximize our rewards.

Costco Cash Back Visa Card. We use this card primarily for gas, restaurants, travel, and Costco shopping. The reason is simple. It provides 1% for all spending, but provides between 2-4% cash back on all of those categories.
American Express Blue Everyday Card. This is the card we use mostly for grocery shopping. Same deal as the Costco card, in that it gives 1% on everything, but for grocery shopping you get 3%. With our family of four that includes two very fast growing children, that extra amount adds up.
Southwest Visa Card. Most of our other spending goes on our Southwest card. This gives you one mile per dollar spent. I’ve done the math, and at least last time I checked, the standard ‘cost’ of a flight using miles works out to be about 20% cheaper than paying in cash. We took an anniversary trip to Cancun a couple of years ago with no cost whatsoever.

Spring Clean Your Finances With 5 Easy Steps

March 4, 2019April 30, 2018 by Money Beagle

Spring has been pretty much absent here in Michigan. Last weekend we had an ice storm. Temperatures have been about eight degrees below average for the month. Snow showers and accumulations are still a regular occurrence. Still, spring has to come sometime, right? We’re still hoping. But, even if the weather isn’t cooperating, spring is still on the calendar. Now’s a perfect time to spring clean your finances. Here are a few easy tips to get started.

Calculate Your Net Worth

We calculate our net worth every month, so this is easy. But if you don’t do this regularly, now’s the perfect time. Net worth is an easy calculation. Simply add up all of your assets. Then add up all of your debts. Subtract debts from assets and that is your net worth!

How To Build Credit History And Why It’s Important

March 5, 2019February 22, 2018 by Money Beagle

I remember a story from when I was kid about a great aunt of mine. She and my late uncle had paid cash for everything in their lives. When they needed a new car, they wrote a check for the full amount. When it was time for a house, it was paid for. This was very responsible, but there came a time when my aunt wanted to build credit and she couldn’t. She was over 70 years old at the time and had no credit history! Yikes. Ever since then, I have understood that it’s important to build credit. So how do you build credit history? And why? Here are a few simple answers.

The Importance of Credit

There are a few good reasons to make sure you have a credit history.

2017 Can Be the Year You Earn Great Credit

March 14, 2019May 19, 2017 by Money Beagle

If you don’t understand what personal credit is, you’re not alone. Your credit history is an important aspect of your life, but most people don’t fully comprehend what it is or what it does. That’s a shame, because you can learn what credit history is in about five minutes, and this information can guide you to a much better personal finance future. So don’t be scared of what you don’t know. Grab this bull by the horns and start taking control of your personal credit, even if for the very first time. This way you’ll know how to raise your credit scores & get the best interest rates in 2017.

Personal Credit History

First of all comes a basic definition. Personal credit history is a record of all of the ways you’ve used borrowed money over the years. You may have borrowed more money than you think. Also, sometimes borrowed items can be represented in the form of money, as with a library book. Let’s say you borrowed a library book in 2005 but didn’t return it till 2007 when you found it under your sofa. It’s likely that the library kept a record of the lost book, and sent the account to collections after they couldn’t recover the book or the fees from you.

Free Cash: Why We Use Cash Back Credit Cards

March 20, 2019February 15, 2017 by Money Beagle

We use cash back credit cards for just about every purchase that we possibly can. Why? The answer is simple, because we earn free cash and it adds up to a good amount. Below is how much cash we’ve earned in the last twelve months.

Costco Visa Card

This is our primary spending card. It has the most rewards that we use. We get 4% cash back on gas, 3% at restaurants, 2% at Costco, and 1% on everything else.

They issue a certificate once per year that you take into the store to cash. This year we’ll be getting $281.88.

Are Credit Companies Giving Out Excess Credit?

March 20, 2019January 30, 2017 by Money Beagle

We recently added another credit card to our household. We’re heading down to Florida for a family Spring Break. Since we’re flying Southwest Airlines for the first time, we get a big bonus by opening up a Southwest linked card operated by Chase. When I opened up the envelope and saw the details, I had a bit of sticker shock. How? They had given me a credit limit of $26,000! It made me wonder if companies are offering too much credit.

Card Limits Have Been Jumping

My wife and I have great credit scores, both well north of 800. We buy almost everything via credit card, to maximize rewards. We’re not surprised when we get approved for high limits. Still, the $26,000 limit was way higher than I’d ever seen. Still, I started thinking about how the limits have been steadily increasing each time we’ve opened a new card. These are just in the past couple of years.

Small Things that Can Ruin Your Credit Score

March 19, 2019January 11, 2017 by Money Beagle

Your credit score is one of the most important numbers you have. So, keeping it as high is possible is a goal for many.

Your Credit Score Is Made Of Many Things

You may have excellent credit now or wondering how to improve your score. There are many things you’ve heard of, such as bankruptcies ruining your credit or not paying your mortgage on time. However, there are other small and shocking things that can ruin your credit score.

7 Steps To Improve Your Credit Score

April 17, 2019March 17, 2016 by Money Beagle

Few things are worse than finding out that you have a bad credit score. Many people know that they have this hanging over their head, where others are taken completely by surprise when they go to take a loan or just do a check.

If you have a bad credit score, then don’t wait to start fixing it. Every step you take can count and help improve your score, and the faster you get started, the faster you can see your score move in the right direction.

Check your credit report for accuracy.

The first thing you should do is check your credit report to make sure that everything is accurate. A bad score can come about with inaccurate information or if you’ve been the victim of identity theft and there are items that you don’t even know are there.

Have You Ever Had A Financial Freak Out Moment?

April 17, 2019February 17, 2016 by Money Beagle

Have you ever had a moment where you just flipped out about something money related? That happened to me last week. The worst part is that my financial freak out ended up being a total false alarm!

Costco Rewards Time Is Almost Near

Around the beginning part of the year, holders of the Costco American Express card receive a paper certificate, on the last page of which contains your certificate for the rewards you’ve earned by making purchases on the card throughout the year.

The Credit Card of Tomorrow: Which Trends Will Change the Way You Pay

April 17, 2019January 24, 2016 by Money Beagle

Though other countries have used EMV technology for nearly a decade, chips in credit cards are brand-new to the United States. To many Americans, it is unbelievable that such a small change could have such a monumental effect on financial security. The truth is that EMV chips are leaps-and-bounds better than magnetic strips for fending off fraud. It certainly makes you wonder what other fantastic tech could make paying with credit faster, easier, and better than before.

Though it certainly seems like the future is now, most experts predict the humble credit card to undergo a number of changes in the coming years. Here’s a sneak peek at what tomorrow’s credit card might look like. Let’s just hope they still offer great rewards.