American Express Blue Cash Back Credit Card

Here is the reason I use the American Express Blue Cash Back Card.

+No Annual fee
+Up to 5% cashback on everyday purchases and 1.5% on everything else (see details below)
+0% interest on first 12 months of purchases (don't plan on taking advantage of this)
+Earn unlimited rewards
+Purchase Protection
+Extended Warranty

Blue Cash from American Express has 1 percent cash back on everyday purchases until you spend $6,500. After that, your rebate jumps to 5 percent cash back. On other purchases, 0.5 percent cash back goes up to 1.5 percent cash back. There are no cap limits on your purchases over the year. You can only get your cash back once every year and it they will only give you the cash back in the form of statement credit. The nice part is they put the credit on your account automatically after your year of use. No call, no worries.

How to Use Credit Cards to Monitor Your Spending

First let's discuss how to use a credit card for your benefit.

1. Find a card that gives you cash back. I recommend American Express Blue and Discover Card.
2. Everytime you use it, realize you will pay that amount when the credit card bill comes
3. Repeat of #3, don't ever carry a balance. Pay your bill in full each month.
4. Take advantage of the online features of your credit card website to track where you spend your money.

I pretty much use my credit card for everything I buy. I never carry a balance from month to month. I watch my balances online so I know how much I've spent and how much I need to pay at the end of the month. I use my cash back to reduce what I owe the credit card company. I use my credit card data to see where I spend my money each month and where I need to cut back on my spending. Dining out creeping up this month? I better cut back and find something at home to eat. If I use cash I tend to lose track of where I spend the money.

Don't even get a credit card if you will do any of the following:

1. Know you won't pay the balance in full every month.
2. You don't realize your spending the equivalent of cash every time you use it.
3. You won't go back and see where you are spending your money and make adjustments to stay within your means.

I repeat. Don't get a credit card if you won't pay it off every month. The first month you can't pay it off, cut it up.

I'm kind of the opposite of most people. If I have cash in my pocket I tend to spend it on silly stuff like frozen cokes and shakes. For some reason, it doesn't make sense for me to use a credit card on this kind of purchases so I won't buy them if I don't have cash. Most people find it hard to spend cash but easy to spend on credit. I fear not being able to cover the credit card bill at the end of the month and tend to cut back on spending.

My Dollar Plan Website

My Dollar Plan is my favorite site for learning ways to save, make, and conserve money. Madison DuPaix made a calculated move to quit her job. It was a bold move but has worked out well for her. Read her story and you'll see that this was a well thought out plan. She is a real numbers person. She has some very ingenious ways to stretch a buck. One thing she does that is not conventional, but effective, is what she calls credit card arbitrage. She looks for credit cards that offer free interest for credit transfers and new purchases. She then puts the money she would have spent in an interest bearing account and pockets the interest. She has a intricate method of tracking all these credit cards and keeps moving them so she never has to pay interest. You need to read her plan to even consider it. Miss one transfer date and you'll pay more in interest to the credit card company than you will make in a savings account. She covers just about any topic from Insurance to IRA's to college savings. I have her on my daily read list. I never miss a post. I have picked up several items that she has written about to save me money or look for a better deal.