Could do, but I prefer to look at my current account balance as a true picture of my funds availability. Credit card balance not so much.
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I’ve been using credit cards for day-to-day spending for at least 40 years so I don’t think there’s much chance of me changing now 
I guess you would need to leave a certain amount for cash like payments
Would you mind walking me through how you manage it?
OK, the way I do it is to make sure that I have an easy access savings account. All my card spending is done with credit cards (as much as possible on Amex and the rest on Barclaycard - both giving cashback) and what’s left in my current account the day before I get my main income goes into the savings account.
After I get my main income, if there’s going to be enough left after regular payments (including the credit card bill - always paid in full) then all well and good. If not, I’ll transfer the necessary amount from easy access savings. This rarely happens because I only spend what I need to on my credit cards. The days are long gone since credit cards were a temptation.
I’m also fortunate to have around half my monthly income left after regular payments, now that the mortgage is paid off.
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Sounds like Frank Abagnale (Catch Me If You Can)
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I know how much money I’ve got to spend month to month, essentially pay minus bills minus the amount I wish to save. Armed with that I can see at a glance whenever I want how ‘well’ I’m doing in terms of staying within that or straying in to the amount I’ll save (or on a particularly hard month how far I’ll have to dip in to savings).
Not using a credit card would only be downsides for me - less interest and less rewards.
Most places accept credit cards when travelling, some don’t accept debit. Prefer to use a credit card while travelling but a debit card for day-to-day. Using debit cards saves you from overspending and having extra debt.
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Always used Debit Card. Just doesn’t seem to be any worthwhile offerings in the UK however.
Agreed. The Barclaycard rewards card is probably the best all rounder to have thanks to a teeny bit of cashback, no foreign currency fees or withdrawal charges abroad.
Otherwise there’s not really anything else worth having. Monzo Flex maybe? Has its own little niche and has improved a lot since inception. If it can ever do standard credit card stuff, I’d probably ditch the Barclaycard.
I also like PayPal credit for my more expensive purchases, though it’s not actually a card. It works just the same and the offer is unbeatable.
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Amex’s Nectar Card and/or Barclaycard’s (free) Avios card are comfortably the best paying day to day cards currently with sub £30 fees, works out as 1p per £ and 0.66p per £ respectively if used as Nectar points at face value.
To be honest, even taking account of the many exclusions, Chase is probably a better deal. Lets see what they come up with for Credit Cards…
Fx fees are the biggie for me, and avios isn’t for everyone, which is why I prefer the rewards card personally.
The chase credit card has me very excited though. They’ll have a pretty easy time beating the competition if the current account is anything to go by.
I don’t agree that Avios aren’t for everyone, how many people never spend a penny at Sainsburys, Argos or Ebay? Must be vanishingly few.
You can spend Avios at Sainsbury’s? 
What I will say is though. I’ve never once shopped at Sainsbury’s and rarely buy anything from Argos, and don’t touch eBay.
If Argos sells it, there’a almost always somewhere better that sells it for cheaper, or delivers faster, or with a longer warranty. Or a combination of the above.
Lots of folks don’t trust the likes of eBay. And Sainsbury’s is arguably one of the least popular supermarkets to shop at! Certainly not the cheapest. Probably only beaten by Morrisons for the bottom spot.
Edit: if you’re talking about converting them to nectar, I’ve just done the math on that. Depending on the card, it’s no better than a 0.5% or 0.75% cashback card (which Amex rewards will just beat) but you’re far more limited in how you can redeem them.
Which just brings me right the way back around to: avios isn’t for everyone. The value is only really there if you’re a very frequent traveller abroad.
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My take too.
I’ll admit to not being an expert in any way, but there’s a sense that one needs to be ever vigilant to ensure you get the associated rewards. It feels a bit like a mission to justify usage.
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And mine. I use Amex 0.5% cashback card for everything I can and Barclaycard Rewards for everything else (including anything in a foreign currency). The Barclaycard Avios would only give me £1.66 more per £1000 spent than the Amex.
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I use Chase at 1%, with Barclaycard Rewards for anything not covered by Chase, or over £100.
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The maths was in the post you responded to 
It’s 0.66% via the Barclaycard free Avios (which is unbeatable as far as Visa/Mastercards without a fee currently available goes) and 1% via the Nectar Amex (£25 annual fee).
Source for one of the least popular supermarket please? Kantar have them as second most popular behind only Tesco.
They’re nowhere near as expensive as they were anymore either. I shop interchangably between there and Tesco and as long as you stick to the base ranges there’s rarely more than £2 diff over a basket. They’ve absorbed more than others in recent times. I don’t notice Aldi or Lidl are any cheaper any more either, although I’m less tempted by expensive ‘finest’/‘taste the difference’ stuff there than elsewhere.
I don’t agree that Argos is ever slowest but then I accept I have the luxury of being able to C&C with 8 or 9 branches within 20 mins drive. Even accepting that delivery is neccessary, price and speed doesn’t really matter if you’re doing one or two redemptions a year and the difference in earned rewards is 30-50%.
Disagree, the value is 1% (Amex, £25 annual fee) and 0.66% (no fee). Don’t faff about with the loyalty to airlines stuff as that really is a mugs game.
You’re not comparing apples with apples tho.
The Nectar Amex would earn double your current Amex, minus a £25 annual fee after the first year.
The Barclaycard Avios would earn 2.64x the rewards your current Barclaycard does.
Horses for courses but I’m very happy accepting being limited to spend only at JS, Argos and Ebay in exchange for receiving somewhere around double the amount of rewards I normally would. Even if you bake in a 10% premium, which I’m confident is still way higher than what you’d actually pay, you’re still miles ahead.
This is all somewhat moot when Chase just give a straightup 1% tho…
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Much cheaper for fresh food such as vegetables. I live nearest to a Sainsbury’s & get odds and sods from there. For that I use my Plutus perk. Would only do the weekly shop at Aldi or Lidl - snips at least £10 off the bill.
I think if you ignore the Super 6 you might be surprised how little diff there is.
As an example, 3 sweet peppers and 3 red onions cost me £2.48 in Lidl when I nipped by last week, definitely more than I pay at Sainsburys or Tesco.
This has changed a lot in the last 12 months.
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