Oddly, I hate rewards cards because I feel like it's one more thing to keep track of.
I run a small business where I code stuff for a living, and have to continually be thinking up new stuff to survive. It's tough to weigh the value of a rewards card versus the mental bandwidth of managing a set of 'optimal buying locations' associated with rewards systems.
That said, I completely understand your feelings on the matter. When you can't do a thing, and then you're allowed to and it's giving you a discount of some sort, it's a huge help. I have a car payment that's less than I was paying on repairs on the old car I had. There was a time when I wouldn't have been allowed to enter into such an agreement.
I run a small business where I code stuff for a living, and have to continually be thinking up new stuff to survive. It's tough to weigh the value of a rewards card versus the mental bandwidth of managing a set of 'optimal buying locations' associated with rewards systems.
That said, I completely understand your feelings on the matter. When you can't do a thing, and then you're allowed to and it's giving you a discount of some sort, it's a huge help. I have a car payment that's less than I was paying on repairs on the old car I had. There was a time when I wouldn't have been allowed to enter into such an agreement.