There are some personal finance experts that will try and tell consumers that credit cards are evil and should be avoided at all costs. While I am not one of those people, it’s important to be a smart credit card user.
Unfortunately people do make unwise choices with their cards and can find themselves in serious debt. It’s important to make sure that even though you are using a credit card, you are still staying within your budget and paying off your bill in full each month.
Credit cards hold a lot of value and can be an incredible tool to have in your pocket. Here are six things that you should always purchase using your credit card.
Travel
Every trip that you take should be booked with your credit card. The reason being that most cards offer a number of different travel benefits, including trip interruption or trip cancelation insurance. If your plane were to have mechanical problems or weather canceled your flight and you missed your prepaid hotel stay then you would be reimbursed. There is also protection in case the airline loses your luggage during the trip.
Online Purchases
One of the nicest things about credit cards is that they have fraud protection for their cardholders. If you are going to be shopping online then using a credit card is a must. If something were to happen with your credit card information, your issuer will pick up on it pretty quick and put a stop to it.
Car Rentals
Depending on the credit card that you have, you could receive primary or secondary car rental insurance. That means the next time you rent a car and they ask you if you want to have their insurance you can tell them, no thank you.
Tax-Deductible Items
If you are going to be making an end of the year donation then it should be put on your credit card. Credit card statements will work as a receipt when you report the donation on your income taxes.
Appliances and Electronics
If you are going to be making a large purchase like a new refrigerator or television then you should pay for it with a credit card. Most credit cards are now offering extended warranties on purchases that you make with your card. The length of the warranty depends on the card issuer.
Several different credit cards will also offer purchase protection. If you purchase a new television and find it for less somewhere else then your credit card issuer will issue you a refund for the difference in price.
Recurring Bills
A lot of us have several different bills each month. It could be the water bill, cable bill, Internet or one of many others. Instead of trying to pay each of those every month use your credit cards and put them on auto-pay. This means that instead of paying each bill separate you can just pay your credit card once per month.
