[CS-FSLUG] Cash Back Credit Card?

[David McGlone]

On Thursday 19 February 2009 7:00:22 pm Robert Wohlfarth wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Timothy Butler <tbutler at ofb.biz> wrote:
> > The question is: will receiving money back from the credit card
> >
> >> company cause you to spend more?
> >
> >        Probably, not. I'm not fond of carrying balances, so I might spend
> > the same (and get more) but not carry more. The idea is to take regular
> > monthly services I pay for, along with big ticket purchases, and try to
> > get something back from them.
> >
> >        Interest rates are too high to spend _more_.
> >
> >> Have you considered something like the "donor" cards - e.g. here's one
> >> for Linux (and other free / open source projects) -
> >> http://www.linuxfund.org/cards/
> >
> >        That would be better than nothing, I suppose, but I'll be the
> > greedy guy and say I'd rather take the money myself. :-P (Actually, the
> > goal is to essentially reduce the cost of the things I need to buy via
> > the cash back rebates.)
>
> Studies show that people typically spend 12% to 18% more with plastic than
> cash. Plus interest on those times when you carry a balance anyway. With
> those kind of rates, the credit card company comes out on the winning end.
>
> I once wrote a short article on the topic:
> http://rbwohlfarth-cc.blogspot.com/2008/11/cash-back-from-your-credit-card.
>html. YOU save more money by following a budget.
>
> For those vendors who absolutely require a card, use the cards like Tim
> Young mentioned. The ones that pull directly from your bank account. You
> get all of the protection of a "credit" card, and much less of the risk.

I agree here. I use nothing but my visa that pulls directly from my bank 
account. 

-- 
David M.
http://www.dmcentral.net