One Cent At A Time

A Personal finance blog for saving money and earning more and thus having a better life

Do You Need Store Credit Card? I Don’t

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One of the life ruining financial decisions you could ever make is applying for store credit card. I know some people who fell for it and ended up giving out financial freedom.

You must have heard credit cards are dangerous tools to play with (Not Always). If banks credit cards are pistols, store cards are assault rifles, the kind Arnold Schwarzenegger used in Terminator.

How often you hear from the clerk at the counter offering you 10% off, 20% off or even 30% off just by applying for store card? Many of us do fall for this, actually $20 instant save on $100 shopping is too good to resist.

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Wise Use Of Credit Card Can Help You Avoid Debt

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I would like to start by mentioning that, I never paid a late fee or interest while using credit cards. I earned $1000’s in rewards and cash backs so far. This goes on to prove that wise use of cards can help you financially while providing all the ease of using card vs. cash.

Credit Cards

Credit cards can apparently seem to be convenient for the consumers. But the susceptible consumers are exposed to high risks due to bad spending habits as they spend more than they can afford. A considerable number of US consumers have multiple credit cards, and each card has a large amount of outstanding dues on it. So, the debt stricken consumers opt for credit card debt settlement programs to pay off their owed amount.

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Credit Card or Debit Card

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One very often discussed topics in personal finance discussion is whether to use a credit card or debit card. Here is how I handle my cards.

I have 4 credit cards Chase Freedom, American Express Gold, Citi Bank select platinum and Bank of America American Express platinum, also, I have BOF Visa Debit card. I seldom use debit card, as they do not give cash back or rewards. I did have ‘Auto Pay’ set up on all of credit cards where the entire monthly balance, what they call Total outstanding balance is deducted from my checking account, before they start accruing fees and interests. I do not have to remember to pay off the cards.

The other reason I keep 4 credit cards is I can build up my credit score by using them and paying the dues on time. When I first reached US, banks refused me to have any credit cards due to lack of credit history, I started with BofA secured card. Since then I applied for a new credit card each year. In 2005 I got my first secured card, 2006 got me my Citi card, 2007 I applied and got Chase Freedom. In 2008 I got an offer from BofA to convert secured card to BofA – American express credit card, which I gladly accepted.

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