High balance on personal credit cards for work expenses

[cbee6390]

Hi all- I'm 27 with good but not excellent credit (ranges from 740-780 or so depending on which bureau) largely due to short credit history. I have one card with a $9K limit and one with a $4500 limit.

My job requires me to put large expenses - e.g.  A $5,000 dinner for 40 guests at a restaurant - on my personal cards and then expense it, waiting two weeks for reimbursement. This means I often have over 50 percent credit utilization especially if I have multiple big expenses in one month. Yes, I get the points, but it also means there are some months I can't apply for a credit increase or new card because I might risk being declined given utilization rate. I always pay the balance off in full immediately- as soon as I'm reimbursed by work. Always before the bill is due. Never carried a balance across billing periods and never been late.

I'm wondering if anyone has a solution or suggestion to avoid having this affect my credit utilization. I work for a nonprofit and run a local branch - maybe we should get a corporate credit card?

All advice welcome.

[kpd905]

I think you just need to save up enough cash to be able to cover a $5,000 bill.  I would keep putting it on your own card if possible, get a 2% back card like the Citi Double Cash and you make a $100 profit each time you pay for one of those $5,000 dinners.

Also, if you are paying the balance before the statement hits, it will not be counting as 50%+ utilization.

[Askel]

Every employer I've ever worked for will give cash advances on planned expenses or cover costs on a corporate card. Letting us put stuff on a credit card temporarily is just a perk.   

If my employer ever expected me to cover $5k without any kind of advance available, I'd be looking for a new job. 

[lexde]

I mean, that sounds awesome. I'd happily put $5k on my Chase Sapphire Reserve for a restaurant multiplier.

If you're worried about credit utilization, apply for more credit. I don't know why you need it wth decent credit already, but wait until your card has been paid off, then apply. You can always recon if they decline. But if you're paying off the balance when you get reimbursed 2 weeks later, the utilization shouldn't report on your bureau reports.


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[pk_aeryn]

In a perfect world, you would have a corporate card or advance for expenses that great.  That's really a lot of credit line your employer is expecting you to have available. What would they say if you had a large personal expense taking up your credit and wouldn't have enough for their charges?

That being said, we don't live in a perfect world and we can't just move jobs as much as we want.

So the ultimate question to ask is - do you have goals in your life that require an amazing credit score at all times?  Are you trying to get into credit card churning, or are you looking to buy a house or car soon?  Are you looking for new employment where credit checks are a normal part of hiring?

If the answer to those things are no, I personally would take the credit card points.  If yes, ask your employer for a corporate card.

[pk_aeryn]

And to add, I personally don't know a lot about credit card churning, but reimbursable 5k expenses on the regular sound like a churners dream.  You'd easily meet a lot of the signing bonus requirements without having to spend your own money.

[LifeHappens]

And to add, I personally don't know a lot about credit card churning, but reimbursable 5k expenses on the regular sound like a churners dream.  You'd easily meet a lot of the signing bonus requirements without having to spend your own money.

It certainly would be dreamy!

Do you like to travel, OP? If so, check out the travelmiles101 class and get going. You will have enough points to travel around the world for free in less than a year.

Oh, and most cards only require a credit score of 750. There are a few "elite" cards that want a bit higher, but in the bizarro world of credit, having more cards and credit available will raise your score.

[Paul der Krake]

Yeah, that's nothing. Banks will extend 50-100k of credit to whomever pays their bills on time. A 5k expense shouldn't make any difference.

[lexde]

And to add, I personally don't know a lot about credit card churning, but reimbursable 5k expenses on the regular sound like a churners dream.  You'd easily meet a lot of the signing bonus requirements without having to spend your own money.

I'm drooling over here over the thought of free $5k spend! But I could see this being frustrating for OP if they have zero interest in churning.

OP - could you maybe just open a new card with a $6k limit that you use only for the job?

[Frankies Girl]

If you're uninterested in churning your cards, you absolutely should have a corporate card that is not tied to your credit. It is pretty terrible of your company to expect you to be happy about charging thousands on your personal card. But unless you tell them you don't want to do this and request a corporate card, they likely do think you don't care/enjoy the churning.

Just read about this over on Ask A Manager's site (#3 question at the link): http://www.askamanager.org/2017/09/coworker-asks-me-the-same-questions-over-and-over-hiding-burlesque-work-at-a-new-job-and-more.html

It’s a really bad way of doing things, but it’s not unheard of. It’s actually more common than you’d think, given what a crappy policy it is.

[Blonde Lawyer]

You also might work with a churner who is happy to take on those expenses for you.  My office has 1 corporate card that the office manager keeps.  I've made it known that if she is ever out and someone needs an electronic filing free fronted, I'm happy to put it on my CC and get reimbursed. 

[lbmustache]

1) Corporate card

or

2) Increase your credit limits

[Heroes821]

Possibly not helpful, but if you have access to USAA as a bank and you have direct deposit they have a no hassle 2.5% cash back card.  Not as amazing as an 80,000 bonus point chase card, but if you have no desire to churn it's the highest spend on anything cash back I've found.

Getting an account there is tricky though unless your a vet or your parents/grandparents have an account with USAA already.

[JLee]

That sounds amazing.  I'd love a situation like that -- if you have good credit, getting a credit limit increase should not be a problem.