Why I Use Credit Cards Instead Of Debit Cards Or Cash

The simple truth is that while they cost me a lot of money early in my life in interest charges (because of my bad fiscal habits), at this indicate, they relieve me far to a greater extent than money than I could conduct maintain e'er imagined.

This is another ane of those articles that I should hold got written years ago, but I was a niggling scared.

There are some people out there that don’t fully understand what the Bible says virtually debt and whether or not Christians should utilisation credit cards.

Yes, they absolutely involve to alive used amongst caution together with you really have got to “know yourself” together with live honest roughly whether or non you lot volition pay off the remainder each month.

Because if yous don’t pay off the residual each (as good as EVERY) month, you lot volition chop-chop negate whatever do goodness that yous would learn from using credit card bonus points.

But, if you have the self-discipline to pay them off each month AND you lot don’t actually pass more than than using them than cash, so you lot tin do goodness large fourth dimension from the rewards that many cards offer.

Do credit cards really construct you lot pass to a greater extent than cash?

On numerous occasions, I concord heard (inwards addition to 50-l plant myself repeating) a quote from a supposed written report from Dun too Bradstreet that states that:

“People pass 12-xviii% to a greater extent than when using credit cards instead of cash…”

But when I actually began looking for the source of that info (the written study itself) I wasn’t able to discovery it anywhere. And I am non lone – a quick google search revealed lots of financial experts discussing it, none being able to discovery it as good as 50-50 some questioning if it ever actually existed.

Regardless, knowing my possess conduct, it does do sense to me that I could overstep more than than on plastic than using cash. However, at this indicate, I know of no conclusive studies proving that.

Again, the ring substitution is to “know yourself” and determine honestly for yourself whether or non you lot exercise spend more than when using plastic.

A DIY debt consolidation using credit cards

The first real benefit I got from using credit cards was when I did a makeshift debt consolidation using credit cards.

10-15 years ago, I was paying off my consumer debts and I didn’t have the option of using Lending Club for a debt consolidation, thus I used 0% credit carte du jour offers instead.

At the time there were a bunch of great relaxation transfer credit cards offering 0% for 12 months alongside no residuum transfer fee.

So I got every combat many every bit I could inward add-on to I transferred my higher involvement marking cards to the 0% cards. I even out transferred our automobile loans to our 0% cards equally goodness. It took a sound amount of tracking inward add-on to Google calendar reminders to build surely I transferred to a novel 0% credit bill of fare before the 0% promotional offer expired.

But the couplet hours of elbow grease each month allowed us to fire all of our debt to a 0% accuse per unit of measurement of criterion, saving us many hundreds if not thousands of dollars inwards involvement charges.

We used that process to pay off all of our remaining $46k of debt.

Once all our non-mortgage debt was paid off (working on paying off our mortgage!), I decided that I wanted to make sure that I never got into credit carte du jour debt over again, so we got rid of all our credit cards.

I honestly call back I was disciplined plenty at that point to NOT get myself inward trouble amongst them, but since I didn’t run into whatever benefit to them immediately that our credit bill of fare debt consolidation was finish, we simply got rid of all of them.

I cutting them all upward in add-on to got them out of my life.

We used a debit card and cash and generally had no issues (other than trying to rent a machine amongst a debit carte).

And it was all working out but fine.

Why I started using credit cards 1 time one time to a greater extent than instead of a debit carte du jour

Over the next few years, I would ofttimes hear some of my personal finance buddies oral fissure nigh how they were getting thus many perks inward improver to rewards amongst their credit nib of fare points.

For a acre, I didn’t cry upwardly much of it because I was using (the at nowadays defunct) Perkstreet debit account of fare that at 1 signal gave two% cash-dorsum on all spending.

So, inward my brain, I didn’t genuinely recollect I was missing out on much.

But when Perkstreet went out of line arrangement (it was but as well sound to concluding), I found myself missing those rewards – two% really adds up to a lot of money each month!

So, I started investigating the whole public of credit carte du jour rewards…

My hear was blown.

I had no idea how valuable some credit carte du jour points were.

I began looking for credit cards that were offering bonus points for novel customers too began opening every bit many every chip I could.

I opened ix dissimilar credit cards over the side past times side vi months inwards add-on to began collecting points from all these cards.

I created a system of Google calendar reminders and a spreadsheet to assist me build for sure that I closed them all at the appropriate time to avoid the annual fee.

Over the side past times side few years, I would figure out which cards are worth the 4th dimension, which ones are non, as well as how to maximize betoken usage.

This led to us getting (past times my best estimates) well-nigh $45k-$60k inward gratuitous locomote.

In the next article “How we go for gratis” I go into item nearly:

• How we 80/20 the physical physical treat thence it takes side by side to no exertion in add-on to maintenance


• The only credit card payoff electronic computer computer programme you demand (that is best for 95% of Americans)


• How nosotros got 161 FREE hotel nights at Hyatts together with 97 FREE Southwest flights over the finally v years

Read Next: How we become for release inwards the U.due due south.

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