Hi,
I am thinking of making my first 'big purchase' within the next few weeks – a laptop for around 4-5k.
I was initially thinking of paying for it from my bank account, until a friend mentioned that there are credit cards out there which I could use instead to benefit from their rewards.
Would you have any tips/suggestions for me in this regard?
As this is a significant purchase for me in terms of cost I would like to make the most of it.
Thanks!
My tip is, do you really need a laptop worth $4-5k? Is this for bragging rights or your work really needs it?
If your work needs it so yeah no problems but I thought a laptop worth $2-3k will be good enough for anything. Instantly saving you $1-3k!
Thanks DarkOz. That's a great point, first thing I'll do is maybe see if I can get what I need for cheaper. I guess I didn't clarify in my original post but the 4-5k is inclusive of a specific AUTOCad program which currently costs around 1.5k.
The reason I lumped the prices together is because I'm more interested in how I can maximise benefit for me if I am indeed going to spend this amount.
Inclusive of AUTOCad for $4-5k now that makes sense. My friend is an Architect and he uses a dodgy free version so I know how expensive these programmes are.
So $2.5-3.5K for the laptop that handles your work is very reasonable. Thanks for clearing that up so others can help you better.
Software costs aside, $3.5k for a laptop is nuts.
You could control a space station for less.
@pointless comment: I disagree. For the sort of work the OP is doing 3.5K isn't particularly excessive. It will also last probably 5 years
@knick007: for $3.5k id expect it to come with one gold plated button - you just push it, then kick back for a snooze while it does your work for you.
@GnarlyKnuckles: at work champ…drinking here is not acceptable behaviour, nor is sleeping on the job.
Your comment is borderline offensive, irrelevant and off topic.
Please refer to posting guidelines.
@pointless comment:
For 3D drawings and rendering I need a laptop that's a little more powerful than standard for things to run efficiently.
@pointless comment:
LMAO
In response to a question about the credit card with the best points return for a 5k purchase, you post random crap about gold buttons and kicking back for a snooze, etc; then you berate me for being irrelevant/off-topic?
You defo' deserve the prize for the most appropriate nick-name on this entire web-site
Now, get back to work or you'll be sacked; please refer to your company's guidelines re surfing the internet on company time.
@GnarlyKnuckles: i also berated you for being borderline offensive, dont forget - while im at it, please dont use the C-word at me either.
I was using humour as a device to convey my amazement at the expense of the circa $3.5k laptop - but im sure you understand that if you are clever enough to use a computer in the first place - price is a key component of the post, after all.
And finally, when you are as high up in the chain of command as i am here at Hypermegaglobalcorp Industries, you dont have to worry about guidelines on surfing the internet while at work.
"I was using humour as a device to convey my amazement … (blah blah blah)"
That's funny, cause I was using humour to convey my amazement at how ridiculously off-topic and random your comments had become. But despite being clever enough to use a computer, somehow this obvious fact has eluded you, as has your blatant hypocrisy, and banal sarcasm; which I would find borderline offensive, if I was fragile and insecure.
ANYWAYS, lets just agree that we're BOTH allowed to use humour to convey our amazement, and I promise to refer to the OzB guidelines if you promise to stop stealing company time by surfing the net at work. I'm worried you'll get the sack, which would ultimately result in a lot more pointless comments on here, which I don't think I could take.
Deal?
@GnarlyKnuckles: the thing about using humour is that is has to be funny!
So ill concede - we can both attempt to use humor - but before you post, read it back to yourself and if its not funny, or simply rehashing others posts back to them with a few big words infused with diatribe as you did above, just dont bother.
And as i said above, when you are as high up in the chain of command as i am here at Hypermegaglobalcorp Industries, you dont have to worry about guidelines on surfing the internet while at work.
@pointless comment:
If you think your posts are funny PC, then you need to watch that ad featuring the guy hiding in the suitcase; and take heed of the advice therein. I am reminded of that old adage, ‘sarcasm is the lowest form of wit’.
In any case, I promise I’ll try and improve my comedic skills, if you try and make your posts a little less painful to read by improving your English, and adhering to at least some of the rules of grammar. Your inability to use English properly is actually a dead giveaway that you are not ‘high up’ in any chain of command. In the three sentences you just posted for example, you’ve managed to include at least ten errors. You’ve serially misused capitalization, used both the UK and the US versions of the word ‘humour’, inappropriately started a sentence with ‘And’, and you are evidently completely incapable of using the apostrophe, both for contractions (at first I thought you were trying to type ‘So ill conceived …’), and to indicate ownership (as in others’ posts).
So to sum up, I’ll try and construct funnier gags at your expense, if you try and type English properly, at least in comments you’re directing at me.
Now, I can’t say fairer than that.
@GnarlyKnuckles: hmmm. While sarcasm may well be the lowest form of wit, i think that nitpicking grammatical nuances on interent forums is the absolute bottom of the barrel champ.
Besides, here at Hypermegaglobalcorp Industries we dont place a high importance on spelling and grammar at high level management - MS Word does this for us ..ppl jus don care no more n e way, yo
@pointless comment:
If you actually are capable of writing properly (which I'm beginning to doubt), then actually doing so is simply a matter of common courtesy to those you are expecting to read what you have written. Serially posting stuff that has to be read a couple of times in order to be deciphered because it's so riddled with errors, is just plain inconsiderate. As for your continued 'psycho-babble' about being in 'high level management', who am I to burst your little fantasy? One of the great things about websites like this one, is that we can pretend to be whatever we want to be. Power to ya, 'champ'!
Now, I've made up a gag for you to demonstrate that I'm trying to improve my comedic skills, in accordance with your suggestion. It requires a basic knowledge of grammar though, so you may not get it, but I'll tell it to ya anyway. Oh, and it also contains swearing, which I know you are overly-sensitive to (I think referring to the word 'crap' as a swear-word is un-Australian btw), so I'll censor the naughty words for you by inserting a random little "@" symbol:
An up-tight English teacher is trying to lighten the mood before her pupils sit an exam. So she tells them a knock-knock joke.
"Knock knock" she shouts.
"Who's there?" the pupils respond, enthusiastically.
"F@ck" she shouts.
"F@ck who?" they respond, tentatively.
"NO" she shouts, while banging the desk with her ruler… "F@ck WHOM"
Credit Cards and Rewards are great if:
1) you can get one for zero annual fee
2) with an interest Free Period
3) can afford to pay off the debt within the Interest Free Period
4) are disciplined enough to perform (3)
5) if you qualify for a card
If you fail on any of the above, then best to pay cash upfront.
Gotta wonder what kind of Beast you're looking to buy with that coin and why you might "need" such a beast?
Very decent laptops can be had for less than $1500 these days.
Do you actually need to spend such a massive amount for what I imagine is only a slight bump in performance?
Thanks! I'm guessing that the ones with zero annual fee probably won't give much in terms of rewards as those with fees?
Not necessarily..
Citibank Signature Platinum is the current OzBargain darling..
Lots of banks will waive the annual fee for the first year on a new card, if you ask them. Re rewards/points, are you referring to Qantas Frequent Flyer points? If so, you should check out this link:
http://www.qantas.com.au/cardselector/InitialLoadAction.do
Note that the top three ANZ ones come with 50k points, and they waive the annual fee for the first year. If you don't qualify for any of those, or you want to go for one of the others for some reason, ring them (or go into a physical branch), and ask if they'll waive the annual fee for the first year.
You'll get way more points as a sign-up bonus than you'll 'earn' on a 5k purchase, so you'd be wiser to focus on that.
Re getting the most points on the 5k purchase, as you can see on the page I've linked to above, generally an AMEX card of some sort will give you the highest points at 1.5 per $1 spent; but it's sometimes not worth it/better to use VISA and get less points, if the place you're buying from passes on a large AMEX surcharge (or a percentage of it) to the buyer, as many do.
Thank you, that's really helpful. Having had a look at the link I think you've got a good point in that many of those sign up bonuses would be far superior to any bonus on the actual purchase. I guess I've missed out on the Citibank Signature Platinum free for life deal but I'll keep an eye out for something similar!
Lol I love this, guy comes and asks how to buy an expensive item and everyone tries to stop him buying it
Haha, yes, I should have clarified in my original post that it's for laptop + program!
I am trying to work out what you are asking? Pay cash. If not, don't. Lol. I won't give advice that will lead you to paying interest or debt. Once you start, you may rely on this method too much. As has been discussed, i would never spend $4-5000 on a lap top period. I would also shop around and get the best price not just get the first one you can on a credit card. People do. Crazyyyy!
I'm asking if it's worth paying with a credit card for the rewards, then paying it off immediately. I do not intend to be paying interest. It's just that I hear that using a credit card sensibly can actually be really beneficial.
As others have said it is worth it as you get extra insurance/warranty and frequent flyer points from some cards.
Use AMEX if you can as you'll get more points that way.
But be aware that some places charge a surcharge for using Amex.
Check the fees but try to get a card that will give you an additional warranty period; can give you up to an extra year of warranty.
Best of luck with the purchase. I presume you are also looking into the tax write-offs you can do with this package?
have a read of https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/credit_card_guide, got a guide as to what the benefits are for each card.
my guess is for a laptop that will definitely drop price in two years, the coles zero fee rewards card might be a good option to explore. they'll refund any drop in price for 2 years (you have to remember to pay the balance before they offer the bill to avoid any extra charges).
however you'll need the laptop to be advertised on the companies website regularly to be able to claim, if you buy it from a place that you have to call up and get a quote, or see them face to face this might become a little harder (not impossible though)
I use a credit card for three things.
In order of priority for me (some people swap 1-2):
If any of the above apply to you great. However above is null if spending habit changes (increases).
If the laptop is the only thing you are putting on the credit card in the next year, probably not worth the effort
A $5000 purchase is probably worth around a $20 - $50 gift card from your credit card rewards provider.
http://www.creditcardfinder.com.au/reward-program-point-curr…
Depends which credit card you use and where you are making the purchase - e.g. if you are making the purchase at myer with a myer credit card, you may get extra points and more back.
So as a one-off it might not be worth it to sign up, depending on how you value the time the paperwork will take,
But if you are as disciplined with your money as you seem considering that you posted this and aren't purchasing your laptop impulsively, if you get a credit card it means you could be getting vouchers 1 or 2 times a year if you put all your grocery and petrol spending on the card for example.
Price protection / extended warranty as mentioned above also good points if you are interested in those.
Thanks! Any thoughts on this particular offer? http://campaigns.anz.com/credit-cards/frequent-flyer
It seems like it's worth more than a $20-$50 gift card from the details.
I do believe that I am quite disciplined with my money. In terms of long term benefit though, I'm not sure if getting vouchers a few times a year from using a credit card would be as good as say getting a constant 2% cashback from ING (especially with smaller everyday purchases). That's why I'm more thinking about a one off benefit from this more costly purchase.
2% cashback doesn't really add up to much..
I put everything possible onto mine (without "breaking the Rules" to split into $99 chunks which ING has actively discouraged) and my cashback balance for 2014/15 was only $123.
I'm not complaining, just a comment.
I get a tonne of money on my Commbank Amex. I put everything on it from food to petrol to big purchases and last year I got $500 off my coincidently $3500 laptop at Myers. In retrospect I should have bought a cheaper laptop, I don't actually need an i7 MacBook Pro 15. I could have easily got a 13 inch MacBook Pro instead. This year I should get a lot more than $500 in points as I'm doing home renovations and purchased a car, I'm putting everything I can on the Amex.
OP, what sort of store are you buying it from?
Just to see if you can get discounted Gift Cards to purchase it, resulting in a 5% discount right there, then paying for those with the credit card.
My suggestion would be ANZ. No annual fee for first year and a bonus 50k points as you'll hit the 3k requirement with this purchase.
The 50k ANZ points will get you ~$225 in Gift cards or the 50k Qantas are around $330 in Gift cards.
If I were you, I would use the money to :
Get the longest extended warranty I can get on a laptop. Because laptop can be difficult to fix (DIY style).
Make sure the laptop has international warranty.
Buy a laptop online to be shipped within USA, assuming you have somebody in USA to hold the laptop for you.
Fly to USA to pick up the laptop.
Take a cheap holiday in USA.
This may work out about the same price as buying a laptop in Australia.
In Australia, we pay more and get less for laptop.
Dell, I am looking at you.
Amex QFF card. Buy it with that then pay it off the next day.
Then everytimebyou shop, fuel up, buy big, use that card.
Then each year take a free return flight somewhere.
Last year it was 2 people to Melbourne return, year before $79 for two people return to perth. From brissy.
Have fun with the auto cad! Great bit if kit too, very jellly
Apart from the finance side of things - would there be any benefit in buying the best spec'd Desktop with a couple of giant monitors + Autocad to do the grunt work, then a cheaper laptop capable of displaying the files (but not necessarily as powerful) to take to a client for presentations?
Best of both worlds
For electronic purchases, I like to use a credit card with a long price protection guarantee (only if what I'm buying is a product that many retailers sell) and they give you an extra year warranty.
If this laptop is custom made and is not an exact match at multiple retailers, just find a credit card that gives you the most points.