Looking at the cumulated list of your bills, you must be rethinking all your life decisions. Wondering what you are doing wrong with it, here you are calculating every penny to analyze whether or not you’ll be making it alive through this week. Ah, only if you knew the recipe to your dream life!
Huh? Dreamlife? What is it?
- A life where you don’t have to struggle with money
- A life where you don’t have to look up to all the financial hacks to survive
- A life where you knew everything to make your mundane lifestyle into a fancy way of living
Good news, folks! You can have your dream life without being financially frustrated with a Credit card! Wondering how? If you are in the North American region, type out the best secured credit card Canada, and get yourself registered to it! If you’re in South America, look for a travel card and get all the perks from it.
So, the first step is to choose the right card (literally!) as per your residence. And, after that, you can start your journey to live your dream life with just a swipe of your card. Here’s how!
1. Best Thing Ever? The Sign-Up Bonuses
Just like a refreshing drink calms and soothes your soul on those summer days, a free welcome bonus can really motivate you to turn your life around for the best. For instance, if you can get a free sign-up bonus of up to 60000 points, isn’t it the happiest thing ever? The reasons being why:
- It can help you kick start your zero credit journey
- Free bonus points are always a good thing
So, how do you decide if the sign-up bonus is worth it? Sure, getting the free points feels like a cool breeze but is it really that good?
- If the rewarded points match the annual fee
- If the bonus is redeemable for gift cards or other good stuff
- If the cards offer endless travel benefits
Then, yes, it is totally worth it to get a card alone for the sign-up bonus points and other rewards.
2. Take The Initial: Set The Goals
Living your dream life is not about luck or good fortune. Yes, you can’t just wake up one day and get the lifestyle you always wanted to have. You have to manifest it, work for it, and earn it. So, if you want to cut out stress from your life and be financially relaxed, you need to take the initiative. Here’s what you can do if you’re a credit beginner:
- Budget your expenses: Check your credit limit, note down the bills you pay via your card, set aside the grocery and shopping, and analyze the total. Review the final amount if it exceeds your credit limit. You don’t want to use all your credit balance, or your credit score will be affected.
- Set credit reminders: Most people ditch the paper money to pay as they tend to use more than required. Credit cards seem like a suitable replacement if you want to track spending. However, if you have a habit of forgetting the due dates, it can cost you more to use a card for payments.
- Use the auto-pay mode: If your credit card company has a mobile app, make the most use of it. Download the app and set the credit card autopay function to clear all your essential bills at the start of the month. You can also schedule your payments to know how much credit you are left with to plan your month.
Thinking of the possibilities and creating an action plan by keeping your credit limit in mind is your way to live a dream life.
3. Swipe The Card: Get The Rewards
Freebies are always welcomed! Who doesn’t like free things? Of course, not you. :p Once you have got the card, it is time to get the best out of it. But even the freebies come with a price.
You have to do good to earn good.
You might have read the phrase somewhere in the biographies of successful people. So, comparing this to your credit story, the conclusion is: To have a good credit life, you need to have a good credit score. According to Nerdwallet, having an excellent credit score can make you a desirable client.
So, what benefits can you get by becoming a perfect credit customer? Here are some pros worth-mentioning:
● Discount Offers:
A credit account with a good credit score can help you get the best discount in the form of food, travel, health, insurance, etc.
For instance, if you have an average score, you may get 10% off on groceries. If you have a good score, you may get free miles. If you have an excellent score, you may earn points to win a free travel ticket.
● Promotion Codes:
Promotion codes are one of the most appealing perks of credit cards. Isn’t it amazing that you can get discounts and promotion codes for your basic things?
For example, the grocery you do with $29 cash may cost you $21 with the card coupons, the dress that was $15 may retail for $13 via your visa card. Few pennies might not seem much beneficial, but it can be a lot if you really combine every single coin you save.
● Cash-Backs:
What can be better than having back the amount you spent? Literally, nothing! So, using a credit card offers cash-back rewards that you can utilize for your purchases. So, what does having a better financial life feel like? Heaven? No! Getting back your spent cash to repurchase your favorite stuff? Heck, yes! The cash-back policy depends on the credit card you use.
For instance, the company may provide 10% cash-back on your purchase in the form of bonus points or redeemable gift cards. The percentage varies as per the credit card company’s policy.
● Access To Lounges
Have you ever seen a travel vlog where the individual spends the spare time munching on the free snacks or getting free spa treatment right at the airport? Did you wish to experience the same too? Of course, you can with the help of your credit card!
You don’t need to be flying first class for free access. Just make sure the credit card you have allows you to enjoy free food, bed, spa, and everything good at the airport lounge.
4. Stay Safe; Stay Protected
How can a dream life be completed without financial security and safety? And, let us tell you, nothing can save you from identity theft and credit theft than your credit card company. Trust us on that! (or your credit card company. :p)
Credit experts at CFPB explain that financial security relates more to your financial well-being than your earning better. Of course, getting high salaries, buying whatever you want feels like being financially satisfied. But, the reality is the other way around. It can be defined as:
“Having control over your current finances to have a stable financial future!”
- If your credit cards were lost or misplaced, you wouldn’t be authorized for the transactions as long as you reported it to the company before they were made.
- You can still be protected even if only your card number was leaked! Because the credit card company might still have the same policy as long as you reported to them immediately that it was stolen.
- You can track every spending on your credit report. For instance, you checked the previous month’s report but found a wrong $13 entry. You can dispute it to get removed or get back.
These were only a few ways a credit card can help you live your dream life. Surely, all the perks sound dreamy but trust us. You can get every benefit as long as you maintain the status of a desirable customer.
So, how can you become one? Let’s read some credit tips for beginners that can help you be one:
How to Use A Credit Card For Your Benefit?
We have been talking about credit cards and dream life for a hot minute now. However, just as credit cards can work in your favor, using them wrong can work totally against you.
If you still can’t decide whether having a credit card can benefit you or not. Here’re some easy peasy lemon squeezy tips for you to follow:
- Be the need-spender, not the want-spender: A desirable customer will always use the credit card for his needs or not wants. How beneficial can it be? Well, when you shop for what you need (all the essentials), it stops you from going into credit debt.
- Compliment your card as a budgeting tool: Make all your purchases through your credit card. This way, you can track every penny you spend and can have an idea of what’s left to save.
- Stay low-key when using the card: keeping your credit utilization under 30% will only serve you right. For instance, If you have a credit card with $500, you must keep a credit balance of at least $150 in your account. It can help you maintain your credit score in a good to excellent range.
- Missing payments is never an idea to consider: Yes, the best tip you can follow is never to miss your payments. It’s great to pay in full monthly, but pay whatever you can, even if you can’t. You don’t want to hurt your credit history and credit report when you’ve just started building your score.
- Be fearless yet careful: Yes, it’s good to don’t cross your credit limit. Yes, it’s helpful to keep a positive balance. Yes, it’s good to have a low credit utilization ratio. But, you don’t need to be keeping your card just to stay in the pocket. The lenders will appreciate card usage because they really want to see how you use it (to be a desirable customer).
FAQs
Here read some answers to frequently asked questions about credit cards before summarizing this research:
1. Why should you use credit cards?
Credit cards are a better and more convenient alternative to carry cash around. They offer rewards and gift points for your every spending. They can also provide fraud and theft protection while allowing you to track the spending. Intelligent credit card use is the best way to build your beneficial credit history.
2. Is having a credit card important for our lives?
One of the best benefits of a credit card is its convenience. You can access your credit anywhere, even if you travel abroad. In addition, you make the purchases via the card and pay the bills later at the end of the month. So it’s more like borrowing money from the bank without affecting your finances.
3. How should a customer choose a credit card for the best use?
The basic things to look for in your credit card are:
- Rewards
- Sign-Up Bonus
- Cash-backs
- APR
- Monthly/Annual Fees
- Penalty Charges
- Travel offers
- Gift card/vouchers/discounts/promos
The above-mentioned things can help you choose your first credit card like a pro.
4. How To Become A Smart Credit Card User?
Following these steps can help you become the desirable customer for lenders and a smart credit card owner:
- Buying a reward card for freebies
- Not using more than 70% of the credit limit
- Focusing on the essential needs for card payments
- Paying bills on time
Also read: Trending and Upcoming NFT Art Project
Bottom Line
Sometimes living a dream life stays as a dream for many people. However, we have developed this comprehensive guide to ensure it won’t be the case for you. It has all the tips and ways a credit card can benefit your life. So, give them a read and choose which is best to get your dreamy lifestyle.
There are endless ways that credit card usage can help you live care-free. But, of course, we couldn’t mention every bit of it. So, do you have a story to share? Let us know!