Anyone Here Utilize Cash Back Credit Cards?

[Poor Richard Saunders]

Both. If I buy a dozen 2x4x104 5/8" pre cut studs, I don't get a volume discount but they give me a better price for cash. The quantity discounts don't usually apply to small orders.

Paying cash is a discounted price. Cash is king when you can pay the bill, get the same price as what you're saying with an account, and you don't have to concern yourself with having to keep up with paying later.

Do you consider a check the same as actual $100 bills? The money is there to back it up when it's written and not having it would mean they could report me to the police for knowingly writing bad checks.

So, you aren't using cash. OK, got that one. It seems your claims of "pulling out cash" were nonsense just as I suspected.

The thing is if you have an account at a normal lumberyard they give you quantity discounts for everything because your yearly volume earns that discount. Your account rep looks at it and says, he buys $10,000 worth of studs every year so our standard price for him is $6.40 per stud vs the $7.00 normal price. They then charge you $6.40 per stud if you buy one or if you buy 100. Then they would bill your account and send you a monthly invoice. Many businesses like lumberyards then offer a further 2% reduction if you pay within 10 days instead of the 30 days.

Having money there to back up a check is no different than having money there to back up a credit card. The only difference is when you use the card you get cash back.

 

[CFM]

So, you aren't using cash. OK, got that one. It seems your claims of "pulling out cash" were nonsense just as I suspected.

The thing is if you have an account at a normal lumberyard they give you quantity discounts for everything because your yearly volume earns that discount. Your account rep looks at it and says, he buys $10,000 worth of studs every year so our standard price for him is $6.40 per stud vs the $7.00 normal price. They then charge you $6.40 per stud if you buy one or if you buy 100. Then they would bill your account and send you a monthly invoice. Many businesses like lumberyards then offer a further 2% reduction if you pay within 10 days instead of the 30 days.

Having money there to back up a check is no different than having money there to back up a credit card. The only difference is when you use the card you get cash back.

Where did I say I pulled out cash? Quote me.

You really have no clue how things work so stop pretending.

Having money to back up a check is quite different than promising you'll have it when the credit card bills comes due. A bird in the hand (cash in this case) is worth two in the bush (promise to pay at a later date with cash that may or may not be there). Just how many people have gotten into credit card debt because they promised to pay a bill and couldn't? How many that paid cash, even through a valid check, got into trouble because the bill was paid?

 

[TexanManWithPlans]

Then you weren't using the general you.

Caught you, boy. It means I'm way smarter than you. I baited the hook and you bit it like a stupid fish.

Are you playing dumb? I'm asking if it applies to you. How would I possibly know whether or not you're financially responsible?

 

[CFM]

Are you playing dumb? I'm asking if it applies to you. How would I possibly know whether or not you're financially responsible?

You didn't ask a thing. You made a claim.

 

[TexanManWithPlans]

Where did I say I pulled out cash? Quote me.

You really have no clue how things work so stop pretending.

Having money to back up a check is quite different than promising you'll have it when the credit card bills comes due. A bird in the hand (cash in this case) is worth two in the bush (promise to pay at a later date with cash that may or may not be there). Just how many people have gotten into credit card debt because they promised to pay a bill and couldn't? How many that paid cash, even through a valid check, got into trouble because the bill was paid?

Having money to back up a check is literally no different than having the money to back up a credit card charge. I pay off my credit cards as soon as the charge posts to my account. All my credit cards always report monthly with $0 balances.

 

[CFM]

Having money to back up a check is literally no different than having the money to back up a credit card charge. I pay off my credit cards as soon as the charge posts to my account. All my credit cards always report monthly with $0 balances.

There is a big difference. When I pay cash or write a check, the balance is immediately zero. When you use a credit card, the only thing you can give is a promise to pay it. Paying it and promising to pay it aren't the same. All the good intentions aren't equal to actually doing something.

I don't know whether your balance always reports zero each month. Only you can know that for sure. What I'm saying is that someone paying cash doesn't have the possibility of having a balance and someone promising to pay does even if their intentions are the best in the world.

 

[Bill]

Most people who own pickup trucks don't need to. If you're a contractor, a van is superior in that it offers more space and greater protection against thieves.

I have noticed this since the early 80's when I returned to Calif.

Many trucks-foreign made, lifted for higher clearance & never got mud on them.....

Sadly the trend never changed.....

Like muscle cars, men overcompensating..........

Now it's the "big speakers", which is finally fading but I am sure there will be some other external devise or possession to fill their short comings & inadequacies..

 

[Poor Richard Saunders]

Where did I say I pulled out cash? Quote me.

I already quoted you. Look a few posts earlier on this page. You stated...

Go to a new car dealer with cash in your pocket. Take their best offer and slice off 10% and show him the cash. See what happens.

How do you have "cash in your pocket" that you can use to "show him the cash" if you don't have cash to pull out. Otherwise you are just pulling out a checkbook that anyone can do even if they have an overdrawn bank account.

You really have no clue how things work so stop pretending.

No clue? I have been dealing with lumber distributors off and on for 20+ years. They have changed a lot over the years along with the quality of the lumber but having an account with an account rep if you do a lot of business still gets you the best pricing. Prices may fluctuate due to the market but your discount doesn't go away and you never pay retail price.

Having money to back up a check is quite different than promising you'll have it when the credit card bills comes due. A bird in the hand (cash in this case) is worth two in the bush (promise to pay at a later date with cash that may or may not be there). Just how many people have gotten into credit card debt because they promised to pay a bill and couldn't? How many that paid cash, even through a valid check, got into trouble because the bill was paid?

Having cash in your checking account to pay off a check is no different from having cash in your checking account to pay off your credit card. In both cases the cash is there. There is as much of a chance of the cash not being there for the check as there is for it not being there to pay off the credit card. Checks take time to clear and the money could be gone by the time the check gets to your bank. If you have the cash when you use a credit card the only way for the cash to not be there is if you have spent it before you pay off the card. If you are someone that could spend the money from your checking account before you pay off your credit card that would mean you are someone that could spend the money from your checking account before the check you wrote clears. There really is no difference.

This is not about using a credit card in anticipation of having the money later. It's about using the credit card when you already have the cash. It all comes down to which option saves you the most money. You seem to think there is only one option. That isn't true at all. I know contractors that have opened one year interest free credit cards so they could put an entire house on that card and then collected interest on the cash for a year before paying it off. That doesn't make them stupid. They probably earned $4,000 in interest at the bank by having that one year interest free loan from a credit card company. Not something you could do today with keeping the money in the bank but it's all about looking at your options and finding the one that makes you the most money. Sometimes cash on the barrel head may be the best option but often it isn't. Using a credit card isn't always the best option either but it often is.

 

[Poor Richard Saunders]

There is a big difference. When I pay cash or write a check, the balance is immediately zero. When you use a credit card, the only thing you can give is a promise to pay it. Paying it and promising to pay it aren't the same. All the good intentions aren't equal to actually doing something.

I don't know whether your balance always reports zero each month. Only you can know that for sure. What I'm saying is that someone paying cash doesn't have the possibility of having a balance and someone promising to pay does even if their intentions are the best in the world.

It seems you don't know how a check works. Paying with a check isn't really the same thing as paying with cash. A check is nothing more than a promise to pay. The person who receives the check has to take it to the bank and hope that you have the money in your account. It's different from a credit card in that the merchant doesn't normally have to pay a fee to cash the check. In most cases it is safer for the merchant to take a credit card than it is for them to accept a check because when the credit card is swiped the credit card company authorizes it promising to pay the merchant. If for some reason the card use was fraudulent or the card user doesn't pay their bill, the merchant still gets their money. With a check, unless the merchant has a system in place to contact the bank to make sure the check is good, they are taking a risk. If the check bounces, they have no final recourse other than suing the check writer so they could end up not getting paid.

 

[PostmodernProphet]

& here I took you for a beamer or Lexis guy.............

lol no......my daily driver is a 2001 Ford F150.......crew cab four door.......color is called Chestnut and it has a matching lid.....Lariat leather interior with bench seats..........187,000 miles........but I have been driving it ten years now and I am starting to dream of something else.......

sort of looking for something like this......

 

[TexanManWithPlans]

There is a big difference. When I pay cash or write a check, the balance is immediately zero. When you use a credit card, the only thing you can give is a promise to pay it. Paying it and promising to pay it aren't the same. All the good intentions aren't equal to actually doing something.

I don't know whether your balance always reports zero each month. Only you can know that for sure. What I'm saying is that someone paying cash doesn't have the possibility of having a balance and someone promising to pay does even if their intentions are the best in the world.

Checks bounce all the time. And people don't always cash them immediately. The money can sit in your checking account for weeks before it's cashed.

 

[CFM]

Checks bounce all the time. And people don't always cash them immediately. The money can sit in your checking account for weeks before it's cashed.

Not if the money is there to back them. If a check for $10 bounces, there are far worse problems for the person writing it than that check bouncing.

Your logic is money equivalent to or in an amount greater than the check written is an issue but a promise to pay something you may or may not have when it's time to pay is safer.

 

[CFM]

It seems you don't know how a check works. Paying with a check isn't really the same thing as paying with cash. A check is nothing more than a promise to pay. The person who receives the check has to take it to the bank and hope that you have the money in your account. It's different from a credit card in that the merchant doesn't normally have to pay a fee to cash the check. In most cases it is safer for the merchant to take a credit card than it is for them to accept a check because when the credit card is swiped the credit card company authorizes it promising to pay the merchant. If for some reason the card use was fraudulent or the card user doesn't pay their bill, the merchant still gets their money. With a check, unless the merchant has a system in place to contact the bank to make sure the check is good, they are taking a risk. If the check bounces, they have no final recourse other than suing the check writer so they could end up not getting paid.

You're moving the goalposts. The discussion was about whether or not the individual using the credit card can pay when the bills comes as there is only a promise to do so. With a check, there is money to back it up and that is checked when one it written. That the merchant gets their money when the card is used is irrelevant. Whether or not the person using the card can pay when the bill comes is.

Many places don't take personal checks for the reasons you stated. However, those that do have a way to make sure the money is in place.

Someone fraudulently using a credit card (i.e. - a stolen one) doesn't mean the merchant gets the money. There are protections in place for the actual holder of that card, whereby they don't have to pay in such cases. What that means is the thief gets what they "purchased", the holder doesn't have to pay, and the merchant is out. The merchant couldn't care less whether the actual card holder pays his/her bill.

Credit card debt at the start of 2020 was over $1 trillion. Do you know what that means? Lots of people aren't paying off their cards when the bill comes due. There's no way to tell how many started out with good intentions and failed. What can safely be said is that there are many that planned to do so and didn't.

 

[CFM]

I already quoted you. Look a few posts earlier on this page. You stated...

Go to a new car dealer with cash in your pocket. Take their best offer and slice off 10% and show him the cash. See what happens.

How do you have "cash in your pocket" that you can use to "show him the cash" if you don't have cash to pull out. Otherwise you are just pulling out a checkbook that anyone can do even if they have an overdrawn bank account.

No clue? I have been dealing with lumber distributors off and on for 20+ years. They have changed a lot over the years along with the quality of the lumber but having an account with an account rep if you do a lot of business still gets you the best pricing. Prices may fluctuate due to the market but your discount doesn't go away and you never pay retail price.




Having cash in your checking account to pay off a check is no different from having cash in your checking account to pay off your credit card. In both cases the cash is there. There is as much of a chance of the cash not being there for the check as there is for it not being there to pay off the credit card. Checks take time to clear and the money could be gone by the time the check gets to your bank. If you have the cash when you use a credit card the only way for the cash to not be there is if you have spent it before you pay off the card. If you are someone that could spend the money from your checking account before you pay off your credit card that would mean you are someone that could spend the money from your checking account before the check you wrote clears. There really is no difference.

This is not about using a credit card in anticipation of having the money later. It's about using the credit card when you already have the cash. It all comes down to which option saves you the most money. You seem to think there is only one option. That isn't true at all. I know contractors that have opened one year interest free credit cards so they could put an entire house on that card and then collected interest on the cash for a year before paying it off. That doesn't make them stupid. They probably earned $4,000 in interest at the bank by having that one year interest free loan from a credit card company. Not something you could do today with keeping the money in the bank but it's all about looking at your options and finding the one that makes you the most money. Sometimes cash on the barrel head may be the best option but often it isn't. Using a credit card isn't always the best option either but it often is.

In other words, I didn't make that quote you claimed I made.

 

[TexanManWithPlans]

Not if the money is there to back them. If a check for $10 bounces, there are far worse problems for the person writing it than that check bouncing.

Your logic is money equivalent to or in an amount greater than the check written is an issue but a promise to pay something you may or may not have when it's time to pay is safer.

Well, it's a good thing that I've had the cash to back up every single credit charge I've ever made in my life. Yesterday morning, I bought gas for $31 and charged it to my Amex card. I have the money in my checking account, and it when the charge posts to my Amex account in 2-3 business days, I'll pay it off immediately (like I always do) and I'll earn 3% cash back.

I've had credit cards all my life and have never been in credit card debt. It's really not so hard if you are financially responsible.

 

[Eagle_Eye]

My American Express card earns 6% cash back on groceries and 3% cash back on gas. I also have a Discover and Chase that earn 5% in rotating categories (gas, Walmart, etc).

I only use my credit cards for things I would have purchased anyway. By the end of this year I'll have accrued almost $700 in cash back.

Anyone else enjoy cash back credit cards?

I have Amex Delta air miles. Discover, and a couple others also Amazon store card I get 5% back on every purchase, and I buy a lot from Amazon.

 

[Celticguy]

What is going to happen is the dealer will file form 8300 with the IRS which will then lead to the IRS investigating your use of such a large amount of cash for financial transactions.

There is that too. $10000 has to be reported as money laundering.

 

[Poor Richard Saunders]

You're moving the goalposts. The discussion was about whether or not the individual using the credit card can pay when the bills comes as there is only a promise to do so. With a check, there is money to back it up and that is checked when one it written. That the merchant gets their money when the card is used is irrelevant. Whether or not the person using the card can pay when the bill comes is.

I didn't move the goalposts. Go read the first post. It's pretty clear the OP is talking about buying things most people normally buy with money they have.

Many places don't take personal checks for the reasons you stated. However, those that do have a way to make sure the money is in place.

Someone fraudulently using a credit card (i.e. - a stolen one) doesn't mean the merchant gets the money. There are protections in place for the actual holder of that card, whereby they don't have to pay in such cases. What that means is the thief gets what they "purchased", the holder doesn't have to pay, and the merchant is out. The merchant couldn't care less whether the actual card holder pays his/her bill.

The merchant doesn't pay for the theft directly. The loses are paid for by the credit card company who recoup those loses through interest and fees charged to users and merchants. But it's the same thing when you buy from any merchant. The price you pay is high enough to cover any theft or other losses they might see in the normal course of business.

Credit card debt at the start of 2020 was over $1 trillion. Do you know what that means? Lots of people aren't paying off their cards when the bill comes due. There's no way to tell how many started out with good intentions and failed. What can safely be said is that there are many that planned to do so and didn't.

The $1 trillion figure doesn't tell us how much of that debt is paid off each month. For instance, if I charge $10,000 per month and pay it off every month, the credit card company will report that as $10,000 in debt because that is what is owed to them but because I pay it off every month I never pay interest. Basically, I am getting a 20-30 day revolving loan that costs me nothing. That doesn't mean lots of people don't pay their cards off every month but it doesn't mean that people owe $1 trillion that they can't afford to pay off. It used to be that credit card companies could rely on a person that pays their bill monthly to forget to pay a bill one month and they would charge the late fee and interest. It's now almost impossible for that to happen. My credit cards are automatically paid from my bank account a few days before the bill is due.

 

[CFM]

I didn't move the goalposts. Go read the first post. It's pretty clear the OP is talking about buying things most people normally buy with money they have.

Many places don't take personal checks for the reasons you stated. However, those that do have a way to make sure the money is in place.

The merchant doesn't pay for the theft directly. The loses are paid for by the credit card company who recoup those loses through interest and fees charged to users and merchants. But it's the same thing when you buy from any merchant. The price you pay is high enough to cover any theft or other losses they might see in the normal course of business.


The $1 trillion figure doesn't tell us how much of that debt is paid off each month. For instance, if I charge $10,000 per month and pay it off every month, the credit card company will report that as $10,000 in debt because that is what is owed to them but because I pay it off every month I never pay interest. Basically, I am getting a 20-30 day revolving loan that costs me nothing. That doesn't mean lots of people don't pay their cards off every month but it doesn't mean that people owe $1 trillion that they can't afford to pay off. It used to be that credit card companies could rely on a person that pays their bill monthly to forget to pay a bill one month and they would charge the late fee and interest. It's now almost impossible for that to happen. My credit cards are automatically paid from my bank account a few days before the bill is due.

Clear according to whom, you? What else would you say.

If someone uses a card fraudulently, the holder of the card challenges it, and the charge isn't placed on the holder, the store gets no money, the holder doesn't pay, and the thief gets something for nothing.

People holding credit cards fall into one of two categories:

Transactor - someone that uses the card and pays it off each month. In a real sense, they don't have any debt provided they pay the balance before it's due
Revolvers - those that don't pay of their balance and incur interest.

In the last 10 years, the percentage of households considered revolvers has ranged from a high 41% in 2010 to a low of 33% in 2015. For 2019, it was on the rise to 37%.

If you pay it off, as you claim, there is nothing to report as debt.

 

[CFM]

Well, it's a good thing that I've had the cash to back up every single credit charge I've ever made in my life. Yesterday morning, I bought gas for $31 and charged it to my Amex card. I have the money in my checking account, and it when the charge posts to my Amex account in 2-3 business days, I'll pay it off immediately (like I always do) and I'll earn 3% cash back.

I've had credit cards all my life and have never been in credit card debt. It's really not so hard if you are financially responsible.

With over $1 trillion in credit card debt, there are plenty that aren't responsible. The difference between us is I don't have the possibility of that happening and you do regardless of how much you claim you pay it off. Claiming that the possibility doesn't exist for you is like saying you can win the PowerBall lottery without buying a ticket.