Well have fun trying to book airfair, rent a car, stay in a hotel room, book a vacation, buy something online pay a bill. Not only do credit cards offer convenience even in something as simple as paying at the pump instead of walking inside. They also allow you flexibility in surprise expense situations like a broken appliance, car accident, car repair. The other plus is you can earn points.
These people whining about credit cards are allowing themselves to be used and profited off of by the credit card companies. Others however use credit like a tool and it costs them nothing assuming they pay off their balance each month.
A good habit and way of disciplining yourself if you use your card often is set aside an equal amount of cash on a weekly basis and pay off each week throughout the month. Do this instead of telling yourself your putting money aside and then finding at the end of the month you charged more than you thought or spent the money you put aside, and have to carry a balance which in turn costs you money.
Credit Cards also allow you to earn points which is essentially earning money, while some cards even allow you to earn cash back. Don't get too carried away with the points. Often you see people so crazy about points they over charge or use their cards on items which costs them cash advances thinking they are racking up points when in reality the points they are racking up will not even come close to covering associated fees.
As we pointed out in an article earlier in the week Review: In The Market For A New Credit Card? The Apple Vacations World Points MasterCard Gives You $100 Towards Your Next Apple Vacation just for signing up for this card you get $100 off your next Apple Vacation you book as well as a $50 gift card so your instantly up $150 without spending a penny when you consider the card has no annual fee. All the while earning points when spending for future vacations, cash back or merchandise.
The point is credit cards aren't all bad. In
today's society they are all but necessary just to do everyday things like buy certain items and book trips or rent cars. Credit cards also can come in handy in a bind when an emergency car repair or some other expense pops up. You can use and pay off credit instead of taking out high interest short term loans or selling your property.
And finally credit cards can let you earn reward points which is essentially free cash, merchandise or travel. Credit cards can get you in trouble if you don't pay attention to what your doing or if your not disciplined however if your smart credit cards can also be a tool for you that costs you nothing.
It's comical how wrapped up people get in credit card reward points. i don't necessarily think its something unique to credit card rewards but people like to have some end goal and like to earn stuff whether it's earning those 10 punches for a free coffee or earning meaningless points or high scores on a computer game people like to earn stuff. People should be concerned about low interest rates and avoiding annual fees and not earning enough points to buy a portable propane grill. points are great and they are an added benefit for using something you might be using anyway but people shoudn't go out of their way to get these points. I've seen people take cash advances on credit cards which is a huge upfront fee as well as monthly fee just to get points that probably don't wind up equaling even 1% of all the fees they wind up paying.
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points. I see the same thing myself. People should use credit and not let themselves be used by the credit card companies.
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