Money for nothin

[Admin]

I used to post a lot about the benefits of paying everything with rewards cards but since it got little interest from the members, I didn't bother anymore. I know a few of you use Cabelas cards and earn free stuff but most don't take advantage of this. I pay everything with cards and then pay the bill in full when it comes in. All my booth fees for my shows and all my buisness expenses, household expenses, auto expenses, insurance, etc. I haven't paid any attention to what my Cabelas points were up to but just noticed I have over 500 bucks saved up in Cabelas points. Pretty fricken cool man. ;D I can do a 500.00 shopping spree at Cabelas and pay nothing.

It don't get much better than that. I think I'll keep saving the points until I find something I want.

[stickbowhntr]

Mar 31, 2012 13:53:16 GMT -5 Admin said:

I used to post a lot about the benefits of paying everything with rewards cards but since it got little interest I didn't bother anymore. I know a few of you use Cabelas cards and earn free stuff but most don't take advantage of this. I pay everything with cards and then pay the bill in full when it comes in. All my booth fees for my shows and all my buisness expenses, household expenses, auto expenses, insurance, etc. I haven't paid any attention to what my Cabelas points were up to but just noticed I have over 500 bucks saved up in Cabelas points. Pretty fricken cool man. ;D I can do a 500.00 shopping spree at Cabelas and pay nothing.

It don't get much better than that. I think I'll keep saving the points until I find something I want.

A guy I work with buys lots on cards from like Home depo and such. all his resturant and gas cards earn him extra as he's 65+ too. Buy the card and get 10% off then take it go to dinner and pay witht the card...takes some planning and disapline but saves him a bunch each month.Way to go JC.

[barkspud]

Sweet a little bonus shopping

[trapperbud]

WTG JC I need to start doing that . ;D

[paddyg441]

;D ;D ;D

Are you saying 1 pt. equals $1.00, JC AT Cabala's That would be a heck of a deal

[stickbowhntr]

That may be Paddy but it takes more thasn $1 spent to earn one point...if I rememeber correctly it's like 1% of purchase for 0ne point.If you do as JC does ity can ad up esp with a business account

[stickbowhntr]

This made me think of "money for nothing and chicks for free."
"banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee"...by dire starights...

[Admin]

One point =one cent if I remember correctly. I earn 1 cent for every dollar spent unless I spend at cabelas and then I earn 3 cents per dollar.

Some cards earn up to 5% but I'm very pleased with the Cabelas card and use it the most.

1% doesn't sound like much but it adds up fast and it is indeed FREE MONEY. My other cards pay me back in cash but I'll probably just spend it at cabelas anyway so I use their card.

I don't spend more with the card than I would writing checks, I pay the same bills and buy the same stuff so there's NO reason why I can't or shouldn't pay the entire bill in full every month.

Last month I spent the following:

185.00 gas
1494.00 business expenses
604.00 homeowners insurance
277.00 household and misc expenses
___________________
Total 2560.00

If I had written checks it would have cost me for the checks and then almost half a buck to mail each bill out. So in other words, it would have COST me additional dollars to pay my bills. Instead, I EARNED 25.60 for paying my bills at home.

This was a cheap month as sometimes I'm paying large booth fees or large purchases for the business or homestead projects. take this simple months expenses and multiply it over the 12 months of a year and it earns me a free 307.20 shopping spree at Cabelas. Save the points for a few years and you can buy yourself something substantial without spending a dime.

People always talk of "these hard economic times" but ignore Free money.

If I used my other card I could have doubled some of these earning as they earn 2% and pay cash. So... with this in mind, last month earnings could have earned me 51.20 IN CASH, which I could have taken to the store and bought 51 pounds of chicken @ .99 per pound or gone to Alde's ad bought 51 cans of solid white tuna or some other food for the pantry. Or... hehehe... I could have snuck off to Walmart and grabbed a few free 30 packs of Coors light.

All these FREE options available just for paying my bills which I normally do anyway. It just makes more sense than to SPEND on checks and stamps to achieve the same task.

I don't know, but in these "Hard economic times" it just makes sense to me.

[barkspud]

Thats the cats a** JC im going to have to look into that. Ive always been a cash guy but have changed to a debt card lately. I could use a yearly shopping sprea with out having to save or work a couple extra days for it. I guess i missed this last time u posted on it.

[Admin]

It really IS the cats a** Bud. ;D
The problem with cards is that people use it to buy stuff they can't afford and treat it like a loan. My X used to think that "available balance" is money in the bank.
Treat them like this and a credit card can be your worst enemy.

If your monthly bills, food, gas, heat and lights etc, run you 3 grand a month, then all you have to do is keep that amount in the bank to pay the card back at the end of each cycle and NOT go spending it on other stuff. You wouldn't drain your checkbook or wallet on crap when you know you have bills to pay, so why is it so hard for people to be disciplined to pay their card bill in full? It's the same amount of money spent PLUS you earn money. A simple 3 grand worth of bills will earn 30 bucks on a 1% card, and 60 bucks on a 2% card.

Paying everything by card helps at tax time too because all I have to do is view my year end summary and most of my expenditures are listed all on one document.

What I recommend for someone starting this is to open a separate checking account for monthly expenses and deposit funds in there to cover them. Don''t use this for any other purpose.
Then start with a new rewards card and NEVER buy anything with this aside from normal household expenses like food, gas, houshold bills etc. No toys or splurging, just your normal monthly expenditures. Pay your bills as they com in with the card, then when the card bill arrives, pay that with the money you been stashing in this special checking account.

Don't deviate from this and you will find that you are saving extra money each month that you would normally piss away on stamps - as well as earning money by using the card - which equals less money out of your pocket to achieve the same monthly task.

I think it's a hoot that Cabelas gives me s**tloads of free stuff each year for using THEIR MONEY.

[patricimo54]

It just makes too much good sense.

If people have the discipline to not live beyond their means and pay in full when the bill comes.

I see a new boat motor in my future.

[woodsman416]

I do the same thing with my Cabelas card. I pay my utilities, mortgage and just about everything thing else on it. I carry zero balance and pay it off every two weeks. I use it so much they sent me a Cabelas "Black" card. This gives me two cents on every dollar spent outside Cabelas and five cents on every dollar spent at Cabelas. My daughters getting married in September and I'm paying for the whole thing on my Cabelas card. I'm no physic but I see a new rifle in my future!

[adksasquatch]

My uncle works at the Cabela's store outside Wheeling, WV. He said a guy came in and bought a 4-wheeler on member points. They do add, up, but I don't like having cards. Research actually shows that you'll spend on average 20% more on credit than you would on cash.

[paddyg441]

;D

Research only shows you the disorganized, unpredictable undisciplined shoppers .

As JC and Woody state the self disciplined buyer knows their income per month and budgets their spending and payments, accordingly and obediently with additional benefits to boot Can't beat that approach ;D