Rewards Cards: Playing the Plastic, and Winning!

Karen Chien is a doctoral candidate in Materials Science & Engineering at Northwestern University. She is also excellent at preparing DoFu Delight.

 I've always wondered what made one rewards credit card better than the other. I have one rewards credit card from Chase and another from Bank of America, and the extent of my knowledge was that I could treat myself to some "free money" every time I remembered to swipe that particular card.  This usually happens when I'm trying to buy a plane ticket to Malibu, since I frequently get tired of graduate school life and live fat and happily off of my generous stipend.

Rewards cards now offer cash back, air mileage, and points

First of all, the type of spender you are should influence which card you open:

• Big spenders: These people can benefit from opening cards during promotional periods which provide high amounts of points upon initial purchases (>$1000).
•  Balance-carriers: People who pay minimum monthly payments tend to carry balances. These people benefit from low APR’s as well as 0% intro APR, but would do better with just ONE regular low interest credit card. [Editor's Note: Many of the rewards cards have variable interest rates, which mean they can change at any time. Always read your terms of agreement carefully when opening a new card.]
•  Pay-back people: Savers who tend to pay back cards in full each time  can go for higher bonus levels without as much regard for interest rates, but it is still good to have them in mind in case a sudden financial crisis were to happen and you couldn’t pay your bill on time.
• Categorical spenders (people who like to spend money in a certain category such as travel, retail stores, etc.) could benefit from cards that have annual fees but offer higher rewards for spending within a particular category.  Extra calculations for point to dollar worth can be helpful here.

5 Money Saving Tips from a “Coupon Queen”

GUEST POST: Ashley "Sloan" Leva is a full time college student, military wife, and young mother. While her husband serves as a Combat Engineer in the U.S. Army, she has embraced a frugal lifestyle as a “coupon queen.”

Budgets can be hard to stick to as they require a lot of self-control, but in the long run it is well worth it. Hopefully some of the money savings tips I utilize will be of help to you as well.

1. Use the Sunday Paper
On Sundays, plan out your weekly expenditures for groceries, etc. The Sunday paper contains hundreds of beneficial coupons that can help you trim your household expenses. If you don’t have access to the Sunday paper you can print coupons online from websites like smartsource.com or couponmom.com.* However, remember to never use coupons to buy items you simply don’t need. Coupons aren’t an excuse to go on a spending spree.