I could go to another stores, but my credit card offers points here
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40192)
Canada
May 14, 2010 8:13am CST
I have three credit cards that offer points and they say the same thing "use our card for the things you purchase in our store or the stores affiliated with our company and you will get double points and you get one point elsewhere.' Now one of the cards is also a shared one with my husband and we use that for purchases over a certain amount, but the other two are my own. Now let me point that i do pay off the balances at the end of the month and even before then so there is no trouble with that fact.
However, I tend to only use these credit cards at the specific stores they are affiliated with although if we do go out and are in a place that is not affiliated with them I use the non-grocery store one of mine for lower charges and the joint one for larger charges.
So the question is what do you do? Do you only use the cards for the stores they are affiliated with? And if it is not, pay cash or use a general card?
3 people like this
4 responses
but thats ok, otherwise, I use cash.@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
5 Jun 10
I hate it just because I am over 60, that now my bank credit card will not give airmiles unless I pay over $6 a month. That is a shame. My husband's debit card gets no points, but then he gets interest on the credit union checking account.
I do wonder why the only people who answered are those who do not use credit cards or use them very little. i mean that is not giving a balanced view on the whole credit system.
If I had said that I am in debt up to my eyeballs, I would understand, but I pay everything off before it is due. Just wondering.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
31 May 10
Up here we do not have debit cards that give cash points, dividends, or points. There are debit cards that give airmiles, but they are limited in that if you are over 65, you have to pay a monthly fee that makes it unprofitable to use them and so in that case, using a credit card is better. I pay mine off, often before they are due and have no worry in that matter. The secret is to treat the credit card as if it were a debit card or a checking account and assume the money has already been spent which it already has.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
14 May 10
I don't have store credit cards, just a couple of general Visa cards and I only use one of those because it offers cash back more than the other card. But it depends on the prices the stores are charging whether I would use one card or the other or even patronize the store over another. If a coffeepot costs $10 at one store and $12 at one where I had the card and the $12 store offered 2% cash back, the $10 store would still be a better bargain for me.
I pay my balances every month, too. It's the only way to stay out of the debt trap.
3 people like this
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
14 May 10
oh dragon how I wish I had stayed to that policy of paying off credit cards each month but years back I started to stray and all of a sudden I
was in debt over my head and reeling with astonishment but I had done it to myself. took forever to pay mydebt off too.
3 people like this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
14 May 10
Hatley, I did that myself when I was in my 20's. A credit card only for emergencies but you'd be surprised how many emergencies came up! 
My mom had warned me-isn't it amazing how smart our parents become, the older WE get?-but I didn't listen. Now I know better.
Why must we always learn the hard way?! 
My mom had warned me-isn't it amazing how smart our parents become, the older WE get?-but I didn't listen. Now I know better.
Why must we always learn the hard way?! 2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
30 May 10
I pay my balances off every month, but there is one store that sends the statement two days before it is due and what happens it includes the last charge that is usually a couple of days before that. Then they are based in Ontario and even though I live in Manitoba, I suspect they mail it to go over to England, through Europe, through Asia, through British Columbia until the mail comes here.
What I do is to pay the balance in advance and estimate what i am going to pay for groceries that week. Of course, they do have a bank and I could get one there, but my husband does not want me to have another bank account. I do wish he would change to the credit union near where we live but so far he has not listened.
@mipen2006 (5528)
• Australia
14 May 10
I don't use credit cards in stores if I can help it even if they attract points. Most of the points programs take so long to pay, it is a waste of time for me. I only use my credit cards for on-line purchases now.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
31 May 10
It all depends on whether the points expire. If one uses the credit card or cards for all purchases, the points add up. I have a grocery store credit card and if one has enough points, that means I get $20 or more off the groceries and that grocery store buys things in bulk so we get the items at a discount rate anyway.
I am also a person that money burns a hole in my pocket. If I had $20 in cash along with me, it would be gone just like that. So for me, credit card are safer.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
14 May 10
hi suspenseful I am embarrassed to say I got myself into such financial troubles with a Sears store card that it took forever to get out
of trouble, so now the only card I use is my debit card or atm card which ever name one prefers.At least this way, I know its already paid and done with. I thought I was such a careful shopper too but I let the balance get too large and got my hours cut way back on my job so I could not make the payments as I had before. Now I am not going to go back to credit cards just use my debit card or cash or sometimes both if I run over the amount of cash I carry.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
31 May 10
I do not like the Sears card. We do have one, but I would rather pay for it using my bank credit card and get the airmiles points that do not expire as the points on the Sears card does. Besides the Sears Card interest rate is too high. Oh I also make sure by depositing so much each month in a high interest savings account and making sure that I budget what I have to spend that month.
This month, I did charge a bit more (all paid up) because there were some things I needed such as kitchen items, but this was just temporary. I do not like debit card that much unless they are to replace my writing out a check or for some where where they do not accept credit cards at all.
