By: LoriSm

My husband and I use credit for all purchases. I keep tabs on how much I spend on groceries each week and once I hit it I am done for the week.
Why do we use a credit card for all purchases? Because we are in a rewards program and make our money work for us. We pay off our credit card every month without fail, which means we are careful what we put on it, but we also put large purchases such as our car insurance, if we buy new furniture, etc so we get the points. The money will come out of our savings anyway so we have the money in order to do this.
The reward program costs us $25.00 per year, charged to our card in January. Last year we made $925.00 from our card (this is less the $25.00 fee we paid). When we cash in the points we receive in the mail gift cards good at Sears or Kmart. It usually takes about 1 week for these cards to come in.
This past Christmas I was able to cash in $420.00 worth of points and was able to do most of our shopping for free at Kmart. I say "free" because these gift cards do not cost us anything. We literally make money using our card, and we've been doing this for almost 5 years. It only makes sense that we make this card work for us instead of us working for the card.
We have no annual fees except the one $25.00 fee at beginning of year. We do not pay interest as we pay off amount each month. Our card literally pays us for using it. We've never paid interest or had this cost us in any way.
When my husband found out we could literally make money just by using a credit card for all purchases, he jumped at the opportunity. Even if I just spend $2.00 he wants it on the card. I buy all food, gasoline, and other items on this card. We also buy large purchases with this card.
In return, I have not had to pay cash for shoes for a few years. I am able to do Christmas shopping on the cheap. And I am able to also shop year round for Christmas and other things with this money. I cash in 2-4 times per year.
We have a large family (8 kids, sons and daughter in laws, 15 grandkids) so that we have 29 people we buy for for Christmas. The use of this card makes Christmas fun around here without busting the bank. We go through the bill each month and it is a good way to see where and how we spend money.
This method works for us.