majik

I hate Dave. My mom is a realtor in Nashville, and has had a few clients that are selling their home because Dave's strategies didn't work and made things worse. I don't know specifics so don't ask.

I took his Financial Peace class in college, read his book. He gives A LOT of common sense suggestions all over the place (setting a budget - e.g., cash envelopes for expenses) and makes millions by doing so. They also make money on their "experts" that provide kickback commissions when Dave Ramsey Inc. sends them referrals.

Moving on....

Quick answer? 3 years. Long answer? See below:

I have a Marriott Rewards card that I use when I travel, staying at hotels to earn points. I received 10,000 or so points when I first signed up, and I earned like 20,000 points on my honeymoon (like 7 pts. per $1 on some things, higher on others). I haven't redeemed any points yet, but having the credit card puts me at Silver Status in Marriott's rewards program, and that got me upgraded twice by the desk clerk (I didn't even have to ask).

But for airline miles... I play the Credit Card game haha.gif
I applied for a Citi card through AAdvantage and was given 20,000 points to sign up.
I then signed my wife up, and she got 20,000 points on her account.

Two years later American Airlines had an anniversary and offered 40,000 bonus miles to open another credit card, so I did. That's 80,000 miles so far (only 60,000 to my account). BTW, my credit score is still above 750.

These cards earn 1 mile for every $1 spent. I put ALL of my expenses on my credit cards, and pay them off at the end of the month. Let's assume I spend $2,000 per month (including gas, groceries, prescriptions, CABLE, ELECTRIC, WATER, CELL PHONE, my wife's tuition, and anything else that will let me use a credit card). That's earning 24,000 miles per year just by using the credit card.

I think AA has lowered it from 30,000 to 20,000 miles to redeem a domestic flight? Anyways... there are other perks:
www.AAdvantageEshopping.com gives you additional miles for using their links to websites. If I buy a computer through Dell (i've bought 2) I earn 2 miles for every $1 spent. I also send my wife flowers at least once a month, and FTD gives anywhere from 15-25 miles per $1... so a $50 set of roses earns me as much as 1,250 miles (on top of the 50 miles for using the credit card). If I only spent $50/mo. on flowers, that'd be as much as 15,000 miles for something I already do.

I also have mail order prescriptions through www.Drugstore.com which gives like 4 miles per dollar spent, so I'm making extra there.

UGH... offtopic.gif read the thread in the "Ask majik" forums for more info.

I just use my credit card on EVERY purchase, and pay it off at the end of the month. Sometimes the credit card company will run a promotion and give me an extra dollar for everything spent at grocery stores, or 500 bonus miles just because.

I started 3 years ago, and I currently have 182,142 AAdvantage miles at my disposal, and they won't expire unless I've had 18-months of inactivity (which won't happen since I earn miles every month with my credit card). I've only redeemed 30,000 miles (my honeymoon to Curacao). So lifetime total is 212,142 miles. I haven't flown anywhere in the last 2 years that my company didn't pay for, so I keep earning miles without using them. Maybe I'll redeem some of them in a few years for a trip to Europe.

To put it in perspective, a roundtrip flight to London would be 60,000 miles per person in coach. For first class, it would be between 100,000 - 125,000 miles. A quick search shows coach @ $650-700/person and First class @ $2,200 MINIMUM.

So far, the only thing I can't put on my credit card are: Student Loan payments, mortgage, and Auto insurance (they charge $50/yr. fee for credit card payment, so I said no).

JonGTR

Amex lets me put Geico on it. fing02.gif

majik

Allstate charges $50 if you use a credit card, so I've got it drafting my bank account.

Amex, Visa, and MC are brands... the banks have the real control (citi, chase, commie1, etc)

UrS0NvS

you guys are more than happy to do whatever you want, i know what works for me. yes, it is harder for me to get some things and whatnot, but it is peace of mind. which is what i think he was wanting.

straight cash has always worked for me and works for the business that i do where i can still use a handshake between people to get something i need, not a 16 digit number.

JonGTR

Is your car paid in full? Do you always plan to pay for your cars in full? Are you going to wait til you save $100-200k before you buy your house in cash?

Ramsey is an idiot.

mwood

I have a Capital 1 credit car and i dont have a annual fee on it...wierd

but i do have 3 other CC that do have them and i hate it...what i plan to do this year is pay on them to zero balance (but not carry them at all, leave them in my safe), and only use in an emergency type situation...

where as my capital 1 card i will pay down and keep on me and use it for gas and such things like i planned from the get go and rebuild my credit...

Also it wierd to hear that you guys can not use you credit card to pay from insurance, i guess cause my bank USAA is also my insurance company (renters and auto, soon to be added life insurancefor the family)...cuz i just have them automatically draft my account on the 15th of the month

majik

do they draft from your account, or charge your credit card? Again, Allstate will let you use a credit card, they just tack on a fee.

I'm satisfied with my Allstate rates, even though they jacked me around after my last accident, and wouldn't pay on the uninsured motorist coverage, but I pay $93/month for full coverage on a '98 Mustang, '09 Murano, and suspended coverage on my '00 Tiburon (only $10/mo. since I don't drive it).

I think for credit purposes, the majik number is 3 years to hold a credit card. They want to see that you've had the account for a while. It's not good to put $300 on it if your limit is $500... get cards that will put your limits at $5,000 or more, so you're only using 10% of your limit. As Jon stated, your FICO score considers the ratio of credit being used vs. available. I was approved for $23,000 limit on my AA Citicard

mwood

they draft my bank accout now, but before i use to use my debit card but i guess i did not get charged cuz my insurance company is my bank as well...

i watched a video on my bank website and they said that "never have more then 30% of the limit in a balance"...so say i got a CC with a limit of 2,000...your balance should not be more then 600 bucks...

supercow

Yes and Yes. I've NEVER had a car loan. Own 4 cars and I never plan on buying a new car unless I'm stinkin rich. That was all before I read anything by dave. Dave actually says the only loan you should have is a mortgage. We are still paying off some business and school debt. We still have a few cc's we use occasionally and pay off but thats just so they stay active, trying to boost the old credit score before getting a house. I think my score is just about 700, I just know when I got my business loan they told me I had the highest score of any 21 year old they'd had come in.

JonGTR

So how are you going to get a mortgage following Ramsey's advice if you don't have a history of credit cards to back up your scores?
How bad are your insurance premiums if your credit score is shit? 95% of the companies use your score to base your premiums.
What about when you first get a cell phone, home phone, or insurance? Bad or little credit = huge deposit needed.

Does Ramsey bring those up on his show? Nope. I've seen his show. He dodges those questions every time.


He "preaches" about having the honesty to repay your creditors. How about the bankruptcy he filed in which he screwed his creditors out of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars? How about the fact that his business uses tons of credit.