The Best Credit Card to Pay Rent
In todays world of inflation, all of us are trying to find ways to save money. And by money we mean liquid cash as that is the greatest asset we will have if we lose our jobs or the price of our investment property goes down if you are lucky to even own a home.
Even five years ago owning a home would have been a possibility since inflation was not so high. Though I am no means an expert on such finances, after getting my first job out of college, even though on paper I make 6 figures in the tech industry, I live in a high cost of living area which made finding an affordable apartment impossible. In my area, finding my own apartment with no roommate in a nice area costs as much as a mortgage payment on a 600K+ home. That’s insane even with my salary since I have other expenses as well and I’m sure others do as well. And there are taxes and hidden costs no one tells you about until you are an adult. I found that my liquid cash was going down the drain every month and unless I have a roommate, living on my own was financially not the best decision. Not everyone has the luxury of remote work so moving to a low cost of living area was difficult at the sacrifice of a large commute. Alright enough of my story.
But I am sure many people do rent as trying to save up to buy a home requires a large down payment of 20% typically and that can only happen if we save cash.
So in order to resolve this problem, I came across a credit card called BILT, the credit card made to pay your rent. Crazy right?
The Problem:
Typically if you want to pay off your rent you have to link your bank account and give cash every month. If you want to use a credit card typically there is a 3% transaction fee which would negate any reward you can get in the card.
The Solution:
The benefit of BILT is that you can negate this transaction fee since the card gives you an ACH routing number so you can pay your rent while earning 1% cash back with no extra fees from your landlord. So for example, if your rent is $3000 a month, every month you get an additional $30 in your pocket at no additional cost. While this is a small savings, that $30 can go towards your utility bill or anything. And as long as you pay off the credit card balance every month, instead of paying on the first of every month you would pay off on the 20th every month. This could help people who are waiting for their paycheck to come on time, think of it as an additional 20 days you have to rack up your cash to pay off your rent.
For me personally, I get my paycheck twice a month, which is a long wait time if I ever have any delay in getting my paycheck. With BILT, by the time my payment is due, I have gotten 4 paychecks! This allows me to save up money as my money sits in a high yield savings account, so every month my cash is increasing at a 3.3% APY rate. So if you ever are in a situation where you couldn’t pay your rent on the 1st of every month and had to deal with late fees and repercussions from your landlord, this credit card can help you avoid that by giving you an additional 20 days to figure out your situation since the balance is now on your credit card.
The Bonus:
In addition, you get:
- 3% back on dining,
- 2% back on travel, and
- 1% back on other purchases.
- No Annual Fee
The only “catch” is that you need to make 5 transactions a month using the card in order to earn your points on the rent payment. But that is really easy to do if you use this card to pay your groceries, subscriptions, literally any purchase that you make with other cards you can use on this one.
As long as you are responsible with your finances and pay off the card every month, I think this is a great card to have. Of course there are drawbacks, such as a high APR if you do not pay it off every month and this card is issued by Wells Fargo, but I see it as an opportunity to offset my payment every month so I can save up cash for something even bigger. Every dollar counts and if I can reap even $5 every month just for paying my rent, I am happy.
Interested? Here’s a link!
No need to search the internet for this card, I have a link right here that you can use for your benefit. Of course, do your own research before applying for any credit card and making any financial decisions. Happy savings!
BILT CREDIT CARD: