I think the credit card company since they’re dumb enough to send debt to a dog 😉

Most credit cards offer a bit more protection than debit cards regarding fraud/ stolen cards, reversing transactions, which is part of my reason for using credit vs debit. Retailers pay credit card companies transaction fees, which is transferred to the customer, some times as a blatant fee, sometimes worked into the cost of the item.
I know the rewards program is there to entice the consumer to spend more using that company’s card. There are certain expenses I have (gas to get to/from work, groceries ), and I may as well be rewarded. I’ve also found the spend to reward ratio is ridiculous, but I use the points for gift cards at Christmas. If my mindful spending during the year then saves me ($100+) on gifts later, I’m ok with the process for me.
I know credit cards aren’t the best choice for everyone and had an ex who used primarily debit and regularly over spent and got charged overdraft fees. Personal accountability and responsibility are just that, personal.

Now, this is after paying off $14,000+ in credit card debt, and we’re not having any of that nonsense ever again.

The reason we keep our credit card is to take advantage of reward points, security, and extended warranties. There’s more security with credit cards, which we prefer, since we can dispute charges more easily. But we also love the cash rewards we get. But we’re only able to enjoy these rewards after being EXTREMELY CAREFUL with this card. It’s always paid off automatically before its due date; and we double check it to make sure.

The upside is that we’ll be able to completely finance Christmas presents with these cash rewards, so the holidays won’t hit us so hard this year. Credit cards aren’t for everyone, and that’s totally cool, too. For us it just happened to make sense.

Holy mackerel. You realize what this means: the dog must have an Experian account by now. I wonder what her credit rating is? Maybe she could take out a new mortgage for you…

How do I manage a credit card (and all that)? I have an AMEX card for myself and one for my S-corp. I charge just about everything on them and I pay them off in full at the end of each month. I never charge more than I can afford to pay: if the cash isn’t in the bank account, I don’t buy things.

Costco tried to foist Citigroup’s Visa card on me. I’ve done business with Citigroup before and would not do so again if they were the last bank on the planet. So I canceled the Costco Visa cards. Had already obtained new, no-annual-fee kickback cards from AMEX.

It means I’ll be shopping less at Costco, and when I do, I’ll be paying with checks. This is probably a good thing: Costco is the Home of the Impulse Buy. Looking forward to seeing a better bottom line at the end of each month.

Albert Einstein has the best quote of all when it comes to interest rates: “Those who understand interest earn it, and those who don’t, pay it“. Thanks for your comment!

Colleen,

Promise yourself you’re going to pay them off every single month. As soon as you notice yourself getting behind a few payments and carrying interest, then it’s time to move away. It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things, but be careful! When you play with snakes, sometimes you get bit 🙂