Apr 29, 2018
Wow, quite the reaction to my credit card post
For those who haven’t read all the comments go back and have a look. Instead of doing my planned post for today I am going to respond to the comments.
Years and years ago our accountant suggested we get the highest limits possible on our credit cards. We have three personal cards and one business card at the moment. We use our credit cards constantly and pay them off in full every month. We average $8,000.00 – $12,000.00 per month on credit between all the cards. Often less when we are Mexico as we use cash. Once we get the foreign exchange free card we will be using the card as much as possible in Mexico and now in Europe as we expand our traveling. Many of the RVers only use their credit cards. Why should I pay $20,000.00 in cash when I can get points from that money spent?
Using an ATM is only as good as having money in your checking account. We only transfer the amount of money we need from our company to our personal accounts as needed. Tax implications. However we can’t just transfer the money on a whim. Any money we use in Mexico ( Europe ) has to be totally transferred from our incorporated company account to the personal account before we leave Canada.
In past years we have put $20,000.00 twice on a credit card as down payments on cars we have purchased.
We use our credit card points to travel. We have flown friends in to visit a few times and then got smart and started to save our points. We now have enough points to travel to Europe and back in business class and to do it twice.
What if something medical happened to us and we needed to pay up front with our money before the medical insurance stepped in? Or a mechanical issue with your vehicle or RV? You can’t get $40.000.00 from an ATM if you don’t have money in your bank account. I know people who have had to pay first and having a high limit card makes a huge difference.
Boondocking Mexico suggested that we likely would only spend $2000.00 during the one month trip to Europe. We anticipate spending around $10,000.00. With the 2.5% charge that adds up to $325.00 CAD.
Rae, excellent point re using your credit card for a few days re the travel medical insurance. I agree, those $120.00 annual fees are worth it. Too bad we can only write one off per year on our company.
Marlene and Barbara, of course we will have euro cash with us as well as use ATM’s. We in fact need 800 euros cash just on our first day in Europe. I don’t want to be stopping at an ATM carting a suitcase behind me. Easy way to make myself a target for pickpockets. So we are bringing the cash with us.
If we can and are able to have a high credit limit why ever would we not? We are certainly not worried about the card being compromised and thousands spent by someone else. When and if a compromise happens it is usually just for a few hundred dollars and then the credit card company deals with the problem.
Besides, what if we see a piece of art that we might want to buy? We find that we have security in having a high credit limit. It costs us nothing.
I recognize that everyone has to do what is right for them, just as we have are choosing to do what is right for us.
Stayed tuned for our next project.
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It’s amazing how our lives are governed by big banks. Who made them big? Us of course. My only interaction with Bank of Nova Scotia was many years ago and not about a credit card but I think the similarities are shocking. Like you we had excellent credit history yet trying to get anything other than a car loan which they told us we could have instantly, was like a blood letting, with so many hoops and loops to get through and around that a month later we were no further along. We went to a different bank and were approved within a few days. Good luck.
Still waiting to be approved. If it weren’t for the fact that I want a FX free card I would have told them to forget it.
I say if you can afford it…go for it! And have a great time doing it!
We aren’t planning on spending a ton of money in Europe but what if we see something we can’t live without!
I’m with you. We don’t have the business expenses now that we’re retired but when we charged those the points really racked up!
What my readers don’t seem to get is that most of these expenses are business related. For instance when Colin is doing aerial photography helicopters rent out at $2500.00 an hour. A float plane can cost $3,000 – $4,000 per photo shoot.
I get the use of the cards, the points, and taxes. I guess I’ve never had that much money to spend 🙂 Having lived in Mexico for 34 years makes it difficult to spend that much especially with the exchange rate. Wow, that’s a lot of dough.