10 weird ways to use your credit card

Card readers are everywhere, making plastic an option in some places and situations you might not expect.

By Jeanine Skowronski, MainStreet

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97Comments
Believing640
Jun 25, 2012 12:54PM
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Is anyone else as sick of MSN making us click thru several screens just to read an article on "10 uses for this" or "12 top this," etc?  I have tendonitis in my wrists, which is worsened by typing.  To read this article on 10 uses for credit cards, I had to click 12 TIMES...for 1 ARTICLE!!!  Why do they make us do this?  And, don't even get me started on people using this forum to try to find a mate...

dc1983
Jun 22, 2012 10:57PM
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Ah crap this article was misleading, I only clicked on it because I thought I was about to see some really cool stuff like how to be like McGuyver and diffuse a bomb with a credit card and a banana peel, but all I found was that I can buy stuff with my credit card. Quite possibly one of the only major regrets of my life: buying stuff with a credit card.
wrx421
May 16, 2012 11:42AM
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This is a retarded story.  Tune in next week to find strange uses for a chair.  Sneak peak reveals you can stand on one to reach things that are up high.
PickNits
May 15, 2012 9:42PM
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The article forgot to mention one of the oldest uses for credit cards -- opening a locked door by sliding it in where the thingie meets the whatchamacallit and leveraging the doo-dad out of its hole.

The card has just enough tensile strength to bend around a slight corner normally blocking the way. This will only work on doors where the workmanship was cheap and unprofessional and usually (but not always) installed before the advent of credit cards.

This comment is cheap and unprofessional but factual. :)

Kent Taylor (Kent Taylor)
May 13, 2012 8:52PM
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I maximized my plastic by shredding it all. It's all spread out in a landfill somewhere. Most of the cards are paid off and Hell will freeze over, before I get another.
19191919
May 13, 2012 12:50PM
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Credit cards are only for people that understand how to use them. I only use credit cards to pay for what I need to live on. I never pay nterest on credit cards. A friend was going to put $7,000 down on a new car, but she knew how I use my cards for points, so she gave me the $7,000 and I put the down payment on my credit card. I had the $7,000 in my checking account , so I payed off the bill when I received it. Citi Card have some geat rewards, if you know how to use them. If you spend $700 in 3 months, they will give you $200 dollars in gift cards. About 5 months ago they had cards that you could get $600 and $400 back if you spend a certain amount in 3 months. I had about $6,000 in real estate taxes, so I sent for 4 credit cards and split my bills up among the cards. I payed off he cards when I received the bill. I have $900 worth of Home Depot and $650 worh of Wal Mart gift cards that I carry in my wallet that I have received from using my credit cards. I will receive another $200 gift card in about another month.. I was in Home Dept several weeks ago and purchased over $100 worth of items and never cost me one penny. I am going to use my $650 Wal Mart gift cards to purchase a new TV for the bed room.

Softgold
May 18, 2012 8:25AM
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When I was in my 20's I fell for the whole credit card thing, until I realised I was paying 10 to 20% more for the samething than if I just paid cash, and I got myself into trouble, because it is so much easier to spend than it is to pay back. I no longer have a credit card, and I am more than happy not too. I pay cash for what I want, and I am not worried about min. payments, and still having a higher balance at the end of the month due to the finiance fees. And we all know what late fees or over credit limit fees do to your available line of credit eh?. Use cash, you will have less stress in your life.
Gaseoustania
Jun 25, 2012 12:35PM
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Here's a "weird" way to use your card: don't rack up more charges than you can afford! 
oopercat
May 15, 2012 7:57PM
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I agree with 19191919.  If you receive a paper statement and pay off your balance online when due so there is no interest, credit cards are great.  You have free use of the bank's money for one month and can accumulate points.  I accumulate points both on our business credit card and personal credit card.  I then combine the points and can get great deals or just cash back.  I usually get cash back and have it transferred into my savings account.  This is a great way to build up the savings.  The trick is to pay it off when due so don't charge more than you can pay off. 
wisebuddy
May 13, 2012 11:35PM
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I think businesses should give an immediate discount on products paid for in cash. Then create in stores rewards programs that only apply to the cash payers. When points are accumulated gift cards and discounts are given. Credit card companies are the only businesses that seem to be prospering today.
ah4589
May 16, 2012 11:25AM
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How long until hookers and drug dealers take plastic?

 

Awesome.

robert oaks (rylwulf)
May 16, 2012 9:51AM
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I'll tell you a weird thing to do. Pay them off! Dont buy things you can't afford
liam122
Jun 22, 2012 9:12PM
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If the deadbolt isn't thrown on your front door and you are locked out you can wedge the credit card in and pop the lock around the handle set.  I also use mine for scraping green vegetation into the rolling paper.  It can also make a quick sharp weapon if attacked, just break it in half.
bunnies4life
May 13, 2012 2:20PM
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In my case, the amount of credit cards I take in my business costs me the ability to add another full time employee. Every transaction cost me 2.5%-4%, whether it is a purchase or a return.
Jexarian
May 13, 2012 11:22AM
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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL.

Sick of Hollywoods
May 9, 2012 12:22PM
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I fail to see how any of these are "weird."
B Mo
May 16, 2012 12:31PM
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In California you can use a credit card to buy Marijuana!
Obama poor
May 13, 2012 3:56PM
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With it having been reported before Christmas, 2011 that credit card debt had reached $13.2 trillion, it's no wonder this country is in deep financial trouble with an outlook that an economic recovery  is never going to happen.

 

 

erica4808
May 16, 2012 3:37PM
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i saw a comercial for this device yesterday and the first thing that popped in my head was now the druggies can put their drugs on credit

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