A victoria secret credit card may not be the first choice when it comes to thinking of which credit card should be used all the time. The interest rate is likely sky-high so that when you are unable to pay the full statement balance, you can look forward of paying plenty of interest with your monthly payments. However, if used correctly, credit cards can actually make plenty of financial sense, of which it could be argued they could be used for every purchase, in fact. The problem lies though, when you continue to charge more than you can afford, racking up a bill and struggling to pay off. If you are able to curb spending and pay off what you can afford, you can limit use to a single card, for every purchase.
Builds Up Credit
If you have applied for a mortgage, personal loan, credit card, insurance, and even a job these days, your credit can be used as a deciding factor in not only for approval, but at what interest rate you will be granted. The higher the credit score, the more likely you are able to take advantage of the best interest rates on the market. Anything short of that, you can count on paying more money, but regardless, as you continue to make on-time payments, your credit score will have improved with your credit history, something that makes up a significant factor of your score.
Accepted Anywhere
While you could argue that debit cards are accepted anywhere as well, you are not able to swipe with as much ease as using credit, knowing there will not be any additional holds taken out of your bank account when renting a room or rental car, sometimes take a week or two to come back, where as with a credit card, it will fall off before you are due any money. When traveling abroad, depending on your card, you could have no additional foreign transaction fees, which makes it simple to travel and use when you leave the country.
Protects Your Bank Account
The problem with using a debit card is that with all of the fraud going on these days, whether it’s taking your card info at the gas pump or when you are paying a restaurant bill, when your debit info is stolen and fraudulent charges are made, they are deducted from your checking account and will remain that way until the dispute process is over, which who knows how long. With credit, at least while the dispute is filed you don’t have to worry about paying that amount when you go to make your monthly statement payment per usual.
Earn Free Money
Probably the best reason it could be argued that credit cards should be used for all purchases is based on the rewards that are offered. Simply just talking about the purchases you would be making in a month anyways, you can earn hundreds of dollars in points and cashback that would otherwise be left on the table if using your debit or a credit card without rewards. With the amount of credit card offers out there, you should choose the card with the best rewards so you maximize the cash coming back to you as you spend your hard-earned money.
Grace Period
Depending on whether it’s a blessing or a curse, you are able to continue charging as much as you want throughout the month, the only stop really being if you hit your credit limit or not, and the balance isn’t due until next month so you can get a paycheck or two in your account before you have to pay. The problem is, if you charge more than you can afford you will then start paying interest, which can be a tough hole to fall in and could lead to years of debt troubles until you’re able to finally get out.
Balance Transfer Options
If you do find yourself if a mountain of debt, the first plan of action should be to curb spending, but since the balance will be taking on interest every month upwards of 16% APR, that can make it difficult to really chip away at the balance, so it may be time to transfer your balance to a card that is offering a 0% promo rate for a period so you can really pay down that balance, or hopefully completely off, by the time the promo rate has expired, saving what could be hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest.
