re: Chase Freedom Card - pros/cons?

Chase Sapphire Preferred here. Ballin arse metal card. A free 40k points for spending $3000 in 3 months is awesome.

If you go with a reward points card (I did because I use the points for travel), Chase lets you trade 1:1 their points with other vendors. It's a great way to get more than 1.0 return on your points.

Another benefit of Chase that I never heard about until I got the card was the Ultimate Rewards Mall. Pretty much a list of vendors that you get extra points from if you buy stuff from them online. Lowe's is 5 extra pts/$. Just bought a $250 miter saw from them online with in-store pickup. Easy 1500 points right there. Some stores have 8+ extra points/$. Clinque comes to mind since my girlfriend bought some makeup from them with her Chase card.

Freedom is capped at 5% bonus on $1500 spent, but you still get the 1% on every dollar spent.

I thought the Sapphire Cards have an annual fee?

The freedom is nice, has good rewards, and the "rewards mall" offers some bonus points as well as discounts on gift cards to certain merchants (like Amazon). I use my freedom card for everything I can.

An interesting discussion about credit cards. I didn't realize they were so important to you younger people.

I do know carrying more than 7% credit card debt to available credit will lower your credit score.

I would advise a brokerage debit card. Otherwise, pay cash. Do Not start a new life off in debt.....

I know you are looking for 0% interest but you might look for something that will reward you for spending more money since you are going to spend so much

1% ain't a lot in the grand scheme of things

maybe get a airline card and get the honeymoon flight for free

Or the chase sapphire has a pretty good signup bonus and rate of return

Here is a good place to start

LINK

ETA: You may consider "churning" some cards

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An interesting discussion about credit cards. I didn't realize they were so important to you younger people.

I do know carrying more than 7% credit card debt to available credit will lower your credit score.

I would advise a brokerage debit card. Otherwise, pay cash. Do Not start a new life off in debt.....

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Young people posting on a money board are obviously very involved in their financial situation so I doubt anyone carries over debt each month. Before I read this board regularly I put everything on my debit card. Since April, I already have about $600 cash back on my Amex Blue Preferred.

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Why borrow?

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Because the interest rate is literally 0% and you get a 1-2% discount, that's why.

Are you really so damn old that you cant understand how people can use credit cards to their advantage???

No disrespect intended to you retiredg8tr, but I'm going to guess by your username that you aren't familiar with trends in the past 2-3 years in credit card land.

First off, many (if not most) cards offer rewards if you use it for your purchases. Some offer cash back, usually 1-2% for every single purchase. Others offer airline miles. Whatever it is, it is effectively a discount.

Second, of course you can pay the bill every month and not pay interest at all, which surely you are familiar with. But these days (again, if you have good credit) many cards offer teaser rates of 0% APR for a year or more. That's right, they are effectively paying you to use their card. You do have to pay monthly minimums but that's it.

Of course, the honeymoon does eventually end and you have to pay it off in full, it's just that you have a year or more to do it.

Real-life example: I got a credit card that offered 0% APR for 18 months, and 5% cash back on home improvment purchases. Instead of financing my new kitchen/bath project in a HELOC I put it on this card. After 18 months paid off the card. This saved me about two grand vs. paying cash.

So long as you make sure you can pay the bill at the end it is a no-brainer to do this.

thinking of doing the same