<prompt> Human: Thank you so much, rpersonalfinance! I discovered this sub my last semester of college, and graduated in December. I started my full time salaried position in January, and have been trying to get my financial house in order. Thanks to discussions about the importance of emergency funds, I made it a priority. Immediately after hitting the 1200 savings mark, my car broke down. Im getting a few more opinions from shops, but it looks like it will take roughly 800-1,000 to fix. I am beyond thankful that I have this fund set aside. While I wish it had happened later in the year, this wont financially destroy me like it might have 6 months ago. Its not going on a credit card, its being paid for in cash.Just another example to stress the importance of having an e-fund. Its currently saving my ass. Thanks again!Edit: This kind of blew up, so thank you for all of the supportive redditors that replied. This sub has been a great resource, and Ive gotten a ton of constructive advice in this thread. Thanks!Assistant: Congratulations on your steps to becoming a fiscally responsible individual. One small aside, if you have a cash back or rewards credit card, I would put the car repairs on that and then pay it in full. Cash is subprime my friend!Human: Thanks for the tip. I currently have about 1,000 of cc debt on a 0 card, so Im very hesitant to put ANYTHING on credit. So once I get that consumer debt resolved, I plan on using the heck out of my rewards card for monthly expenses.Assistant: Ok, but if you have the funds and the limits to do it, there is absolutely no downside of putting it on your card, getting the rewards, and then paying it off when the statement comes, or even paying it off immediately if that helps you psychologically. Its just like paying from your fund, but you pay discover instead of the shop, and get a discount to boot. Human: I agree with you in the long run, in terms of regular habits. I have made it a priority, however, to resolve all of my consumer debt before I start strategically using cards for rewards. I understand that I could potentially benefit from this, but for me the prospect of not carrying a balance is much more exciting, and knowing that I had the discipline not to rely onuse my CC is very satisfying.Assistant: You wouldnt be carrying any additional balance, because you would pay in full with your fund. And, the benefit is not potential but actual. You are essentially paying 10 to 20 dollars more than necessary in order to gain an insignificant mental benefit. I get the goal, and its admirable I suppose, but if youre saving up for another fund the Ill take the extra cash any day. Human: I suppose it depends on the importance of psychological benefits, which I dont believe to be insignificant. Im trying to form new, better financial habits. To me, this means not putting anything on a card that already has a balance. Learning to save, and pay it down that way. Additionally, the limit on this card is only 1,500. I wouldnt be able to put the whole thing on there anyway. And my past troubles include maxing out the card with the intention of paying it off, and then not doing it because something else came up.Im trying to train myself to have better habits. Sometimes that means doing something that doesnt necessarily make sense from a purely strategic standpoint.  <response>: Training yourself to good habits is going to be a better payoff in the ong run than a few dollars in cash back on the credit card. Do what you think is the right thing to do. 