My Dollar Plan 6 Steps to Use Credit Cards Strategically
Posted By Don On August 14, 2017 @ 8:29 am In Credit Cards | No Comments	
Many people see credit cards [1] as a bad thing. They lead to overspending and debt [2], which leads to stress and never reaching your financial goals.
Over $10,000 to be exact. But it wasn’t the credit cards fault. It was my fault. I didn’t realize that I was depressed and had low self-esteem. Buying things made me feel good. Once I addressed my issues, I was able to get out of credit card debt [3].
If you have a card that has a promotion tied to it, like double cash back [4] for 6 months or rotating categories [5], be sure to note this as well.
Your next step is to understand what your goal is. Do you want to travel for little to nothing [6]? Do you just want cash back?
So I switched goals to earning cash back [7]. Just earn as much cash back as possible.
I also had a Citibank card that gave me Thank You points. Again, not worth it since I wanted cash back. So I switched to the Double Cash card [8].
Discover: use for gas, dining out, home improvement and Amazon when the rotating 5% category is in play. See the Discover Rewards Calendar [9].
If you find a big spending category, like groceries isn’t covered, you will want to research new potential cards to open up. See list of cash rewards categories [5].
Now that you have everything set up, take a little bit of time to review everything. For example, when I did this process, I realized that Amazon was not covered. I found the Amazon Chase card [10] that offered 3% cash back on Amazon purchases.
You have to transfer that money to a savings account [11] or investment account. For us, I wait until the cash back gets to around $300. Then I use it as a statement credit and immediately set up a transfer from our checking account to our investment account. This ensures the money was earned through cash back actually benefits us and helps us to get ahead.
If you want to use your credit cards for travel rewards [12], just know there is going to be a few more steps involved to make sure you are getting the most out of your credit cards.
How to Use Snowball Debt Reduction to Payoff Credit Cards [15]
Payoff Your Mortgage with a Credit Card [16]
URL to article: https://www.mydollarplan.com/use-credit-cards-strategically/	
[3] get out of credit card debt: https://www.mydollarplan.com/7-ways-to-payoff-credit-card-debt/
[4] double cash back: https://www.mydollarplan.com/discover-it-100-sign-up-bonus-10-cashback/
[6] travel for little to nothing: http://www.pointsfamily.com/get-the-most-bang-for-your-frequent-flyer-miles/
[7] cash back: https://www.mydollarplan.com/cash-rewards-credit-cards/
[8] Double Cash card: https://www.mydollarplan.com/citi-double-cash-2-cash-back-credit-card/
[10] Amazon Chase card: https://www.mydollarplan.com/amazon.php?asin=BT00LN946S
[11] savings account: https://www.mydollarplan.com/bank-rates/
[12] travel rewards: https://www.mydollarplan.com/airline-rewards-credit-cards/
[15] How to Use Snowball Debt Reduction to Payoff Credit Cards: https://www.mydollarplan.com/snowball-debt-reduction-to-payoff-credit-cards/
[16] Payoff Your Mortgage with a Credit Card: https://www.mydollarplan.com/payoff-your-mortgage-with-a-credit-card/