Obscure Problems and Gotchas

1. “Credit cards are evil!”, Credit cards are not evil, people just make very poor decisions when using them. It is all about self control and listening to that little voice in your head that says “Don’t do it! It’s a trap!”
2. “I am afraid to get into debt”, that is nonsense because no one is forcing you to be in debt. That is the same as saying, “I don’t want to lose all my money”, well then simply don’t spend all your money.
3. “I was told that it is good to miss the first payment sometimes to build credit.”, tell the person that told you that to jump in front of a bus every now and again. This is a load of bull, getting into credit card debt is considered bad debt, please don’t do this. Good debt is considered a car payment, mortgage (when you can afford it) or student loans. You will build credit by using your cards regularly and paying off the balance in full. Ironically good credit card customers are the preferred customers of Credit Card companies. If you purposely go into debt, then sure it will show that you had a small loan issued to you on your credit, but in the long run I think you are just doing yourself harm. If you want to build credit via a loan – then get a loan – don’t do this with credit cards.
4. “When I get my bill I should pay it off immediately!”, don’t get into that pattern, there is a due date, pay the bill on time, but pay it when it is most convenient for you. I will explain more of this down below.
5. “Aren’t high Credit Card interest rates bad?” – Honestly, only if you intend on being in debt. If you are going to use the credit card as I am describing below – it won’t matter what the rate is. I have had credit cards with 25% interest on them, I could care less because I never missed a payment.

1. YOU ARE BORROWING MONEY FROM YOURSELF! Don’t think just because you have a 10,000 dollar limit, that you yourself have 10,000 dollars to spend that is simply your credit limit and nothing more. Your REAL limit is what ever assets you own IE: the money in your bank. So please for your own sake, don’t go over any limits. You are lending money to yourself, so you pay your self back later. It is better to think of it that way so that you don’t over spend. In all reality you are borrowing money from the credit card company, but again, you still have to pay off the balance – you just happen to be doing it at 0% interest before the due date.
2. If you ever find yourself saying “I don’t think I can cover this… oh heck I’ll just put it on my credit card”, you have failed yourself – time to cut up your credit card because you don’t sound responsible enough to use one. That kind of mentality WILL get you into credit card debt which is a slippery slope since the APR is usually quite high. Climbing out of credit card debt is very difficult because the interest rates suck, you will get pounded every month unless you pay it off immediately.
3. NEVER EVER spend more than you make in a month – UNLESS you planned on it IE: Large planned expenses such as a computer or other 1 time purchases.
4. This is not really a credit card rule, but it ties in, make sure you have a buffer of cash in your account at all times and try to maintain it. For example, maintain a $2,000 balance and try not to go below it. In other words your $2,000 dollar balance IS your $0.00 mark.
5. Don’t open more than 4 accounts – this is a magic number I made up – just don’t open more accounts than you can actually use in one month. You don’t want to be overwhelmed with unnecessary bills. I currently only own 3 cards which I think is manageable. Fewer bills means more free time.
6. Don’t open a card to just take advantage of a one time offer. Only open the card if you intend on using the card indefinitely. I made this mistake once and I ended up closing my account like a year later because I wasn’t using the card – this hurts your score don’t do it.

You don’t have to feel obligated to use your credit card every month, I suggest using it when needed (every other month or every month doesn’t matter), but don’t let it go cold for more than 3 months. Meaning you need to have activity on your account or it could hurt your credit score. If you have a credit card that you don’t use at all, consider closing the account before the company closes it on you. If a company closes a credit card on you – that is considered very bad.

Credit Card Budgeting
Make sure to have a credit card budget for all of your cards. This budget is a limit that you will set based on your spending potential, ability and comfort level. Make sure to base this figure on the rest of your set expenses and income every month. Use credit cards for day to day expenses such as gas, supplies, clothing and other essentials etc… If you do not make enough money, I would strongly recommend against putting your monthly bills (or any other frequency) on your credit card, those should all be Direct Debit or Automatic Clearing House (ACH). It is always safer to pay off non returnable items, that you will need regardless of your situation sooner rather than later. Make absolutely sure to check your credit card balance often to prevent overspending. Eventually you will know without checking about how much you have spent over the month. I usually keep a tally of how much I have in debt in memory at all times. If I forget I will just go check my account online. No debt is happy debt. It allows for a clear conscience and peace of mind.

When to use your Debit Card versus your Credit Card
I don’t like using my debit card so I avoid using it most of the time because that is money you are dishing out immediately. The flip side to that argument is that when you use your debit card you don’t have any debt to pay off, which only makes sense to me in very few situations which are:

1. Non refundable items – such as food. You can’t usually return food that you have eaten already. I mean you can try, but it might end you up in jail and that is just plain disgusting. Dining out is a good example too, going to a restaurant, going to a bar – you aren’t going to be able to return those items as far as I am concerned there is no point in racking up debt on them. As mentioned before monthly bills fall into this category too. I am sure there are other types of non refundable items I haven’t listed here, but you get the idea. If you have consumed the product already, it doesn’t exist in it’s original state after consumption and you cannot return it due to this fact – then use a debit card.
2. You need cash back. This one is self explanatory, you don’t want to go to an ATM, so you buy some stuff and get cash back. Simple.
3. You have reached your set credit card budget limit for the month, time to switch to cash aka your debit card. It is important to not go over your budget, we all have those months though where there are just a bunch of unforeseen expenses, it happens, but don’t go over your credit card budget for the month because it will be an annoying shock when you see the bill. I recommend switching to your safe option for the remainder of the month – using your zero debt option – your debit card (or cash).