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Don’t cut up those credit cards just yet! You might be able to use some credit card hacks to save big money and earn rewards.
Ok, so yeah, credit cards get a bad rap for a few good reasons:
- The interest rates can be excessively high, like almost-30%-high!
- Late payments result in big late fees and can increase that already-high interest rate.
- It’s awfully easy to get in over your head: you put a couple necessities on your card one day, planning to pay the credit card bill in full on payday, but then your charges exceed your ability to pay, and boom, you’re in a perpetual state of debt.
Because of these negatives, we super don’t recommend using credit cards to pay living expenses. If you’re having a hard time covering all your bills each month, we have a totally separate plan for you to make ends meet.
But, there are actually some pretty brilliant ways to use credit cards to boost your finances. It just takes a little planning and a little discipline.
Check out these 3 credit card hacks, and see if they’re right for you.
Hack 1: Transfer existing credit card debt to a 0% APR card
Are you swimming in credit card debt? What is the APR (annual percentage rate) on your card(s)? The APR is basically the amount of interest you’re charged for having debt. The average APR is currently 15.07% according to creditcards.com. This means if you carry just $1,000 in credit card debt this year, it will cost you $150.70 in interest. But most of us with credit card debt have more like $16,061 in debt, so at 15.07%, we’re paying $2,420.39 in interest each year!
What if you could transfer some of your existing credit card debt with the high APR to a new credit card with 0% APR? You still make your monthly payments, but you’re not charged any interest for the introductory period (usually 12-24 months). Introducing the first of our credit card hacks: 0% APR Balance Transfer Credit Cards!!!
If you think 0% APR sounds too good to be true, you’re wise to be suspicious. These 0% APR balance transfers can be awesome, but there are a couple small catches you need to be aware of.
Good credit requirement
You must have good credit to take advantage of these 0% APR balance transfer cards. They usually require at least a 690 credit score. After all, credit card companies are not going to give you a 0% period if they think there’s a risk that you will pay late or won’t pay off your balance. Not sure about your credit score? You can check it for free at creditkarma.com. And make sure you read our post on Building Perfect Credit from Scratch!
PS: we’ve read that some people get approved for the new balance transfer credit card, but don’t get approved for the 0% APR rate because of not-great credit. Make sure you’re approved for the 0% APR before you transfer any balance!
Introductory period
Your new 0% APR card won’t stay 0% forever. You need to check the terms of your new card to see how long the 0% lasts. Then do everything in your power to pay off the card during that time. Once the 0% period has expired, the rates are just as high, if not higher, than the standard credit card. You might even want to figure out how much you can pay each month, then only transfer the amount of your credit card debt that you can pay off during the 0% period.
Think about it: credit card companies make their money by charging interest to customers. They are hoping you don’t pay off your card before the 0% expires because if you do, they don’t make any money off you. They are betting against you, and you can use this to take advantage of the 0% APR and never pay them a dime in interest!
Limit to amount you can transfer
Most 0% balance transfer cards have a limit to the amount you can transfer. If you have perfect credit, you can usually transfer $10,000-$20,000. With less-than-perfect credit, you may only be able to transfer $1,000 at a time. It’s fine if you can only transfer a portion of your full balance. It’s still going to save you hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars in interest.
You also may be limited to where your transferred balance comes from. Like if your existing debt is on a Discover card, you probably will not be able to transfer the balance to another Discover card. Credit card companies offer these 0% APR balance transfer cards to get new business, so it makes sense that they only allow balances being transferred from other credit card companies.
Transfer Fees
Warning! Some 0% APR transfer balance cards charge fees, usually around 3%, to allow you to transfer the balance. There’s no reason to pay this fee when you can find cards without fees!
No rewards
You won’t be earning any rewards points or miles on these cards, but that’s ok! Your 0% APR is worth way more than a 1 or 2% rewards program.
Best Bet:
If you are interested in transferring your credit card debt, we love the Chase Slate Card. With good credit, the 0% period lasts 15 months, there are no upfront fees to transfer your balance within 60 days of opening the card, and there are no annual fees.
You can check out NerdWallet’s review of the Best Balance Transfer Cards for 2017 to see other options.
Hack 2: Put everything on your card to get rewards
The 2nd of our credit card hacks isn’t for everyone! This is only for those who have a great understanding of their monthly budget and the self-discipline to stick to that budget every month. If your spending gets out of control with credit cards, please stick with debit cards or cash.
But if you trust yourself to use your credit card for every expense without going over budget, you can seriously benefit from credit card rewards programs. Over the last four years, I personally averaged $918 per year in rewards. That’s almost an extra thousand bucks a year by just changing my method of payment for the things I already buy!
I put everything I can on cards: groceries, clothes, toiletries, travel, gas…at one point my electric company accepted credit cards as payment, so I even used it for that!
But my favorite thing to charge to my credit card is work expenses. I put company lunches, association dues for the entire staff, and work travel expenses on my credit card. Then my company reimburses me at the end of the month so I can pay off the full balance, and I get to keep all my rewards points! It’s a beautiful thing!
Take advantage of these rewards programs if you can! NerdWallet has an awesome rewards card comparison tool that uses your spending habits and credit score to recommend the most beneficial card for your situation!
Side note: geez, we sound like NerdWallet spokeswomen here, referring to them all the time! We’re not affiliated with them in any way. We just use their site almost every day because of the solid research and informed recommendations, and we want everyone else to be able to use them as a killer resource too 🙂
Hack 3: Ask for fees to be waived
A lot of the best rewards cards come with an annual fee. But that may not be a deal-breaker because the extra benefits might outweigh this fee. And, even better, the third of our credit card hacks might even get this fee waived for a year or two.
What’s the hack? Ask you credit card company nicely if they will waive the fee. Couldn’t be easier!
As an example, I signed up for a Capital One card with a really good rewards program, and they agreed to waive the $89 annual fee for the first year just to get my business as a new customer. All I had to do was ask!
That was great until the second year rolled around, and I had forgotten that I now had to pay the $89 annual fee. So I called Capital One and asked if they could waive the fee for the second year. Guess what? It worked, and I saved $89 just by asking!
Of course this only worked because I was a good customer who never paid late. If you have a credit card with an annual fee, and you always pay on time, it is so worth calling your credit card company and asking for the annual fee to be waived “just this once”. Seriously, don’t expect this to work year-after-year! Take the annual fees into consideration when choosing your card, and if you can get it waived, it’s just sugar on the rim of your cocktail!
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