Store Credit Cards: Some people love them, and some hate them. Personally I have a mixed attitude toward them. Currently we have three store cards: Dress Barn, Kohl’s, and Sears (although the Sears can be used elsewhere since it is a Citi MasterCard).
My wife uses the Dress Barn for herself, the Kohl’s mostly for family clothing, and I use the Sears occasionally for tools and hardware. All three gave significant discounts on purchases that day if you signed up, which helped to cut the price tremendously. They also offer discounts throughout the year if you use the card, which can also save some money.
What I don’t like is three more accounts to track and to remember to pay, although they do send emails with statement info which is a reminder, but it is still a hassle. Also, you tend to automatically get a lot of emails from that store. We have opted out of receiving emails except for statements. That means we get fewer emails, but we may miss out on some specials – I can live with that.
Obviously the goal of the store card is to get you to shop at that store and to entice you to buy more. Since we cut out the emails that helps against being enticed, plus we are not really shoppers so we usually only head out when we really need something. If you love to shop then store cards could be a dangerous thing for you! But if used carefully, they can save you some money.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
We also use a Kohl’s card which is often necessary to get in on the extra 15-30% off deals they often have. We also have a Target card (which deducts from our checking account so in essence it’s a debit card) and a Lowe’s card, because they each offer 5% off your purchase. That’s it for us.
I’m not a fan of store cards because they mean more complex financial tracking, not to mention there is the possible allure of additional shopping. I currently use one credit card to (milage points card) that I use as my bill pay and online purchase card. However, if I was in construction and shopped at Lowes or Home D all the time, I would likely get the card. Same goes for travel. If I was always flying United Airlines, I would purchase a United Card. But for regular shopping.. no way.
Nice post… a good thought experiment.
Yes, there is that danger of spending more – which is why they offer the lure to get you to get the card. We try to offset this by getting off their email list and by not carrying the card with us always. For us, we tend to plan our shopping (we are not big shoppers to begin with) so we can always grab the card if we decide to shop there. Thanks for commenting.
We have a lot of friends who use Kohl’s – and all of them have the card! Their marketing must be working
Thanks for sharing. Does Lowe’s always give you 5% of your purchase? That sounds pretty good! Home Depot is the store near us so no temptation to get a Lowe’s card. Thanks for sharing.