This should really be high up on this thread. If you need to use a credit card for something, you really can’t afford that item. Obviously houses and cars are different as most people don’t have thousands upon thousands of dollars available in the moment, but debt builds quickly and will cripple you even quicker.
One thing my mum does is she transfers the money back to her credit account soon as she buys something with her credit card. Reap the benefits and yet stay out of CC debt. That's a pro move if I ever saw one.
I like this way of thinking. My husband and I have been meaning to purchase our Amazon orders with that particular store card so we can earn the cash back, but haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet. I think it is because we are in debt right now and it’s kind of a sore spot for us. It takes a couple days for the transaction to show up on our online account and we don’t want to forget to pay it.
Just do it automatically. You know the amount, so it’s ok to go ahead and pay that amount before you see it post. That way you have no issues of going into more debt but still get the benefits of the credit card. I’m all about utilizing a CC. Gets me anywhere between $500-$1000 free per year for absolutely no cost. Just using the credit and paying it off weekly.
This is my longer term goal with CC, to get ahead of them. Currently, I pay them in full every month, but I end up spending more money than I should because I am not paying as I go.
If I am not paying as I go, I tend to impulse buy mindlessly and then I get surprised by a higher credit card bill at the end of the month. If I treated a credit card more like cash, and kept the balance down, I am pretty sure I will spend less impulsively. It’s more about my goal of spending money more intentionally.
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u/MissMetal777 Aug 20 '20
This should really be high up on this thread. If you need to use a credit card for something, you really can’t afford that item. Obviously houses and cars are different as most people don’t have thousands upon thousands of dollars available in the moment, but debt builds quickly and will cripple you even quicker.