I am just 22 years old, and for the last couple of years since I turned 20 I’ve been an extremely heavy credit card user.
Now, don’t mistake that for me saying I am a bad credit card user I simply use my credit card for everything. And I mean everything. I even tried to pay bills with my credit card.
I first started with a community credit card from my bank then as my current credit card I now use the Apple credit card. I simply like the Apple credit card because it is a great 2% cashback on pretty much every purchase that you can think of.
The main thing I’m wondering here is for somebody who is using a credit card the way I’m using it. Is this really the right card for me? I’m certain that there are some of you out there that also treat your car like a rewards depot. I see it as why would I ever use my debit card that gives me no value and no rewards if I’m going to buy things anyways I can’t even bring myself to buy things with gift cards because I know that I’m not getting my cash back.
Have I fallen into some sort of trap with cashback? Am I thinking of this the wrong way or the right way? And if I am using my credit card properly, is this really the right card for me?
Huge Credit Card User Looking For Advice!
byu/SingleAd2727 inCreditCards
Posted by SingleAd2727
2 Comments
There’s nothing wrong with using your credit card to pay for everything AS LONG AS you are following these rules:
1. **Pay off your statement, in full, every single month.** No ifs, ands, or buts. The credit card company won’t mind if you don’t, because that’s how they start making lots of money off you from interest- but the moment you start accruing interest, you’ve more than lost all that cashback you’re getting. *(Some people will tell you that carrying a small balance will improve your credit score. THIS IS NOT TRUE. It’s a common misconception. It’s fine to wait to pay the card off until the period has closed and you’ve received a statement though!)*
2. Don’t let having a credit card trick you into spending more money than you otherwise would. Just because you’re earning rewards doesn’t mean you aren’t still spending money!
If you can follow those rules, you absolutely should use your credit card for everything you possibly can! Credit card purchases have a ton of extra protections for you that debit and cash transactions don’t, plus you get rewards.
Nothing wrong with it, as long as you pay off your statement balance each month so you don’t accrued interest. As well you want to make sure that if you are charged a fee for credit cards that it is worth it.
Some people like my self takes it even further having multiple credit cards that each serve their own purposes. I have a credit card I use for dinning and grocery that gets 3%, one for travel that gets 4% back and then a card for everything else that gets 2% back.