This is tip #2 of the How To Save $80,000 Series
Buy everything with a credit card (Saving: $1500)
Today is day two of my 10 part series where I’m highlighting practical money savings tip that can potentially save a practice $80,000. If you missed yesterday’s tip, just scroll down and you’ll find it. If you are coming back for tip number two, read on.
Photo credit: barsen
Credit is Good
Buying everything with a credit card can seem counterintuitive when discussing savings, but if one can manage the process effectively, the savings can be significant due to the cash back bonuses, earned miles, etc.
For example, our practice tries to pay for most (if not all) of our vaccines purchases by credit card. Of course the card we use gives us points for every dollar spent.
Depending on how many vaccines, supplies, company meals one buys with a credit card, one can easily have enough points to send a few doctors to a CME, buy computers, a camera for the office, a new TV for the waiting area or if you really want to go all out, give a couple of airline tickets to a top employee.
In terms of savings, this tip is hard to measure in dollars exactly because of the cash back bonuses, double rewards, the type of card and what you actually use the cash back bonuses for. But I want to put a value down, so I’m going to say one can save/earn $1500 (which is pretty conservative) a year with this tip.
Of course there is only savings if you pay the balance in full each month. Otherwise, this tip can cost you money in the long run.
What about you? Do you use credit cards and maximize the rewards? Do you have any other money saving tips you’d like to share? If so, we’d love to hear it.
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at our phone bill and see where our practice found savings.
I'm a practice administrator at a Pediatric office located in the western suburbs of Chicago. I write mostly about running a small business that happens to be a medical practice.
We let our customers pay for our PMS and EHR using a credit card – it’s like telling people, “Buy our system and get a free airline ticket!” Why pay cash for those big bills?
Practices should insist that their vendors take CC payments.
I understand the proposition, but before paying with a credit card for such a big purchase, it is important to evaluate the interest rate (variable vs fix vs prime +1 or 2%), penalties for making late payments and so forth.
Actually, this advice is good for when taking out a loan too. It is important to know what is the “total” cost of the purchase with interest added.
I didn’t mean to suggest using the credit card to get, well, credit. :-) I mean it as though you charge the card, get your points, and immediately pay it off.
I got a new set of pots and pans from Williams Sonoma this spring doing that!