Credit Cards!

Oh how I love credit cards.

First of all, I should say since it can't be assumed, that I always pay my full balance the day it is due through the auto pay feature. I have never been late with a credit card and believe in having three credit cards so that I have enough credit lines open to boost my near perfect credit score.

I love them because they let me earn interest on my money for a month until I have to pay the credit card bill and because I earn amazing rewards.

The three cards I have (and love) are the Citibank Diamond Rewards Card (which I use for all work expenses and get reimbursed for), the American Express Blue Cash Card, and the Citi AAdvantage Card.

When I rack up points on the Diamonds Preferred Rewards Card I always cash them in for student loan rebates to pay down my husband's law school debt because the value for student loan rebates is much better than for products I don't need or for their cash back rewards. Plus by spending my rewards on student loans, I save on the future interest so it's the gift that keeps on giving!

The American Express Blue Cash card is pretty nifty. There is NO fee (I would never pay a fee for a credit card- what a waste- if you have a card that you love and there is a fee talk to them on the phone and say you'll cancel unless they waive it and they will probably waive it!). Basically this card gives you 5% cash back on food, pharmacy, and gas, and 1.5% cash back on everything else. To get these high percentages you need to spend $6,500 on the card- for which you get .1% back and .5% back respectively. The money comes to you once a year in the form of a statement credit. We're already up to more than $500 this year from rewards (note the majority of the money we spent was for my office which I got reimbursed for or for my graduate tuition bills).

The third card I love is my Citi AAdvantage Rewards Card. Basically they waive the fee for the first year and when you sign up and spend $750 you get 25,000 airline miles posted to your American Airlines account. You can cancel before the year is up or request them to waive the fee for the second year. 25,000 is a free flight!