Points, Points, Points.....I love my Points!

I am a points hog, I love points, shoppers points, airmiles points, aeroplan points, HBC points, Sobey's points, Sephora points...I collect whatever I can and it pays off.  This week I got 13 movie passes in the mail from air miles and purchased over $75.00 in cosmetics from Shoppers Drug Mart but didn't have to pay since my points covered the balance.  I went browsing around the aeroplan site to see if I wanted anything from their merchandise category; I didn't, so I will just keep collecting until I do.  north Americans are among the highest point collectors in the world and it shows with retailers and even banks creating point programs to praise their customers with points that can be redeemed for anything from a vacation trip to a rice-cooker. 

Most of my purchases are done using my Aerogold Infinite credit card which collects Aeroplan points for every transaction , if the retailer has their own points system then I end up collecting points on that program too for the same purchase!.  The trick is to ensure you pay ALL of your credit card balances by the end of the month to avoid interest charges.  I have saved hundreds of dollars over the the years using multple points programs and it is worth carrying all those extra cards.  Most people have multiple credit cards, to save money and keep your credit score high I suggest you cut up and close off all your credit cards expect for one, a card that has the least amount of interest but still allows you to collect points.  Even if there is a annual fee for the card you usually have that paid off several times over within the year if you use your card often to make your purchases.  So readers when economic times get tough people usually become imaginative with ways to curb spending, reduce interest charges and save money.  Just because the tough times look like they are behind us doesn't mean we have to resort to our past way of frivolous spending.  I suggest you all take the time to begin collecting points you will be thrilled at all the things you can buy over time, its like Christmas arrives more than once a year!