Pre paid credit cards

[badbreath]

I looked and could not get a good answer on this. My company is giving me $500 in a prepaid credit card for being good at what I do, I will probably get some more over the year.

The question is is there any way to just use them to buy Vanguard funds or do you know who to extract the cash so that it can be invested. i really don't need the cash to buy more stuff

[aristotelian]

Do you not buy groceries to eat? Gas?

[prudent]

Our company does that also. The Terms & Conditions that come with the card explicitly state it cannot be used to withdraw cash. So I use it for groceries and gas until it's gone. That's money I would have to have spent anyway.

[badbreath]

Yes I have done that in the past but looking for a alternative, maybe there isn't one

[badbreath]

Ok maybe I am answering my own question. Take the $500 out of the budget and invest use the prepaid credit card to make up budget

[snowshoes]

Ok maybe I am answering my own question. Take the $500 out of the budget and invest use the prepaid credit card to make up budget

[DealSeeker]

You could use the prepaid card to buy a money order, for example at Walmart, and then deposit it in your bank account. You'd end up paying a fee, though, so you wouldn't get the full $500.

[stm]

It's going to depend on what type of prepaid card it is. Is it credit, or can it be run as debit? Then if it's a visa/mc, there's a good chance that as a byproduct of the Durbin ammendment it has or can utilize a pin. Amex won't work.

Then depending on the brand, you can liquidate it at Walmart or Kroger as a money order or bill pay for a small fee. We do it all the time, it's pretty straight forward.

[DSInvestor]

Ok maybe I am answering my own question. Take the $500 out of the budget and invest use the prepaid credit card to make up budget

That's how to do it.

[brew]

Some recurring payments (cable internet and cell phone for us) accept credit cards without charging a transaction fee. State Farm insurance does as well. For bills like internet and phone you may be able to "prepay" a few months' worth of service, depending on the provider. The days of easy manufactured spend appear to be over--Amazon Payments would have been perfect for this situation.

[masteraleph]

Ok maybe I am answering my own question. Take the $500 out of the budget and invest use the prepaid credit card to make up budget

This is what I tend to do.

FWIW, if you find that you only have a few dollars, or event cents, left on the card at some point, and don't want to deal with asking a clerk to use multiple forms of payment, buying a "gift card" for yourself on Amazon.com works nicely.