Credit Cards: They’re Not the Enemy

Credit Cards have become a bad word in the world these days. Well, not for me. I’m here, I’m proud of my credit cards and I have no problem telling you that I use them ALL THE TIME. I love them. They are the best way for me to shop, when used correctly.

If you are disciplined, you can do very well with your credit cards. If you can’t control yourself, STOP READING. If you can control yourself, continue reading on my friends.

Credit Cards are outstanding ways to earn money, airline miles, gift cards, hotel stays and more. For me, I have credit cards that earn me MONEY. We use our cards for almost every purchase we make. Why? Because we make money when we use our credit cards. Even better, many times they run programs where you can earn extra back on groceries you buy at supermarkets and various drugstores, like CVS and Walgreens. If food is sold, we buy it and earn money.

Our family has to buy groceries. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have to buy food for the family! If there is a way to do it without spending a cent, I have not found that way yet. Especially since we have very few coupons out there for organic, non-processed foods. There are some, but not many. We are coupon users, we love them, we don’t pay for anything full price EXCEPT a lot of fruits and veggies that are organic. So the bill for the healthy stuff can get higher than we like, but using our credit card helps to offset this issue.

When we have gifts to purchase, we hit the internet. The first place I hit are the cash rebate sites (I’ve got too many to even begin to list). I find the best deals for what I want, coupons to go along with it and then I use my cash earning credit cards to make purchases for birthdays, anniversaries and those special holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day (if I’m feeling generous). All my purchases EARN ME CASH, but I only buy when I know I have the hard, cold CASH to pay the bill.

The KEY to credit cards: Using the cards as if they are cash. If you don’t have the cash to pay for it, don’t buy it with your credit card either. That’s the discipline part I was referring to at the start of this article. Think of the credit card as cash and you’ll keep yourself out of trouble. Think of it as free money and well, that’s how you end up on Oprah talking about climbing out of a load of debt with Suzie Orman.