hey guys! i'm back with more question to optimize my spending!
I basically have a few utilities to pay:
1. unifi & electric
2. Great Eastern insurance bill

what's the optimized way to pay these? especially for insurance bill. Also I prefer maybe Citibank (cos i'm a loyal customer) or some card that's free for life (enough card problem).

Any thoughts?

Good point bro, monthly I have:
TNB RM100
Streamyx RM100
Insurance RM200

Cheapo here... Anyway I currently spend a lot online so I almost max out my cash rebate for UOB Yolo, CIMB CR, PBB quantum. All other stuff will go to Citibank CR. I think I can at least get some points for those utility, even if I'm not getting rebate for it.

This post has been edited by chrisderick88: May 8 2017, 11:05 AM

I think most response here already cover the risk/reward of having a credit card vs using debit card/cash.

However i think it's useful to point out a frankly stupid phenomena I see. Specifically all those miles/cash back/points/perks are not free. Merchants will be charged by the banks for transacting in credit card (1% or so i think), and subsequently guess what, merchants will increase selling price and charge everyone more for that.

Now it became a norm that merchant charged higher price to cover CC cost. So if you pay in debit card/cash, you're losing out because you paid the higher price without reaping the rewards. It is a vicious cycle but we're all in it, so no choice but to take the most benefit back for ourselves.

The main thing is to have the financial discipline:
1. If you can't pay off your credit card bill at end of month, you shouldn't have a credit card, full stop. One month of interest will make you lose more $$ than whatever perks you get.

2. There are tons of researches showing people tend to spend more if they use credit card. The idea is cause you dont pay with physical cash, you dont feel the pain. Same goes to online purchase like shopee, grab etc.. Since you dont touch the cash, you don't feel it. You may not fall into category (1), but you still end up overspending/hurting your finances.

There you go. good luck!