You MUST use your credit card…but pay off in full….
For regular readers the original title of this post would have been a shocker…I had decided to call it ‘You must use your credit card’…!!
Well, even for once I am not saying that you should use the credit in your credit card, but use it like a charge card. What are the payments that you can make through your credit card?
Well you can pay for your groceries, air and train travel, purchases on websites, petrol, electricity bills, ….well almost all your expenses, is it not?
What are the advantages of using your credit card? Well, here are some of them:
1. You could get a sign up bonus points: If you have a good credit history with any of your lenders or housing loans most credit card providers will want to provide you with a nice bonus point gift! Take it.
2. It is free! Most credit cards are now free and are lifetime free. In case they do charge you for a renewal, just scream and scream loudly. The charges will vanish.
3. It is safer than taking cash especially if you are travelling. Enough safety guards can be built into it to avoid abuse.
4. You get bonus points based on usage: If you use it a lot you will earn a lot of bonus points – which you could use for buying things you need, or give it off as charity! Why not let www.akshayapatra.org benefit please?
5. You get 1-8% cash back offer: Many cards give you a cash back and this is useful. You anyway use a lot of fuel, why not get some extra money back? It is like getting 5% extra mileage on your car, is it not?
6. Grace period in which to make the payment: If you make a purchase today and today happens to be the first day of the payment cycle, you get about 45 days in which to settle the payment. NEVER exceed this, but use this to the fullest because your money is earning interest in the savings bank / money market mutual fund, remember?
7. Safety: Insurance is now built into the credit card purchase. If you can scream and prove that there has been a misuse of your card, the credit card company can stop further payment to the vendor,and protect you.
8. Accepted all over: Visa, Mastercard and our own Rupay cards are all well accepted all over India – brings us back to the question of convenience….
9. Not but not the least, you are building a nice credit history – solid payments always on time…will mean that the bank which has given you a card would love to fund your purchase of a house, car, jewellery…have fun, but be restrained!
10. No i have no 10th point….lol…
Abhijit
Just one caution here. Credit card companies push you a lot lot lot to spend more by offering some gr8 offres which tempts us to buy things that we don’t really need. Never ever buy on cc because you are getting more rewards or cashback. You would end up with big fat cc bill at the end of payment cycle.
PrAvEeN
Hdfc cc gave me 3 months free credit & said can pay amount without interest with 3rd month stmt. But they charged some interest as & when 3rd stmt generated. When I called them they apologized & reverted back money. But if u didn’t checked it simply a loot. So beware with these CC’s tactics
Pravin
set up 100% autopay for the outstanding balance with your internet banking.the card will be taken care without giving you an excuse to delay it or ‘forget’ it.
Kishore
Here I have a few points against credit cards
1. You will not know when you have exceeded your income. If u use credit cards for all purchases, there is a high possibility you spend more than your salary in a month.
2. Bonus points and gifts – Those are negligible. Credit card companies provide you this from the money they extract from the vendor. So, if you don’t pay on credit card and bargain, you may get better value. Remember, there is no free lunch.
3. For safety purpose, if you don’t want to carry money, use a debit card.
4. you get 45 days of grace period – good if you are a business man and financially disciplined person. You can get interest in SB. But if you are not, you will mess it up.
5. I have heard of paid blogs. I love to believe this is not one among them. if it is, I know this comment will never be published.
Only 5 points I have.