If you are like me and you
love to use your credit cards
all of the time without paying
any interest,
of course,
then stick around until the
very end of this video,
because I am sharing my 11
credit card hacks and tips
with you so that you can get
the most out of your credit
card.
From getting a 0% interest
rate on your credit card to
boosting your credit score,
we've got it all covered in
the video.
I am Tiffany Thomas with
wealthy tiffany.com
and I achieved financial
freedom and became a
millionaire.
If you're looking to do one or
both of those things hit that
like button and hit the
subscribe button,
and we're going to dive right
in.
All right.
First off,
I want to say that I am not
promoting credit card use if
you cannot pay off your
balance in full every single
month so that you are not
paying any interest.
That being said,
let's talk about tip number
one,
which is to put everything you
can on your credit card.
This includes very large
purchases to very small
purchases.
I use my credit card for
everything possible that I
can.
When I go to the grocery
store,
I will pay for my groceries
with my credit card.
When I go to the gas station,
I will for sure use my credit
card there.
And then also for fixed
monthly payments that I have,
for example,
my internet bill and my water
and sewer bill.
I definitely use my credit
card for those types of bills.
So think about all of the
different purchases that
you've made with cash or with
your debit card and take a
second and find out if you can
use a credit card for those
purchases,
there are multiple reasons for
doing this, and
I actually created another
video credit cards versus
debit cards.
I'll leave a link to that
above and below,
but there are three main
reasons that I want to mention
in this video on why I use my
credit card for everything
possible.
Reason number one is because I
have credit cards that have
cash back on them.
So I'm earning rewards every
time I spend money on my
credit cards.
So the more money I'm spending
on my credit card,
the more cash back I am
earning.
And that said,
I am not spending extra money
just to earn the cash back
rewards because it is a very
small percentage.
So it's not worth it for me to
just spend extra money all of
the time to earn a little bit
of a reward.
But if I'm already making
those purchases,
why not put them on my credit
card to earn as many rewards
as I can?
The second reason I wanna talk
about using my credit card for
everything possible is because
it boosts your credit score.
And I have another video going
into more detail about how you
can boost your credit score.
I will leave a link above and
below.
Essentially when you're making
a purchase on your credit
card,
that is going to get reported
to the credit bureaus,
and it will boost your credit
score,
if they can see you are using
your credit card often and
paying it off in full every
month,
if you are not using your
credit cards properly,
this is not going to help your
credit score.
Comment below and tell me if
you are already using your
credit cards for as many
purchases as possible.
The third reason I want to
mention in today's video that
I like using my credit cards
for everything possible is
because if you have fraudulent
charges on your credit card,
they get taken care of very
quickly and very easily.
But if you have fraudulent
charges on your debit card,
your account will be frozen
and you may be responsible for
that amount of cash that was
spent on your debit card for a
time,
until they can figure out that
you did not actually make that
charge.
By using your credit card your
account is not frozen.
They will send you a new
credit card very quickly,
because they still want you to
use their credit card and they
take care of the fraudulent
charges immediately.
So your funds aren't frozen.
You have access to your money.
And when this happened to me,
actually fairly recently,
my credit card company told me
I could still use that same
credit card in store,
but just not online while they
were sending me a new credit
card,
which I thought was pretty
cool.
And that was my discover it
card.
And I will leave links below
for my favorite credit cards,
in case you are interested in
getting a new credit card.
All right,
the second tip I want to share
with you is pretty awesome.
And I feel like a lot of
people don't know about this
tip,
and this is if you are making
a large purchase and you want
to put it on your credit card,
call your credit card company
ahead of time and ask them if
they will give you a 0%
interest rate for 12 months.
That is exactly what I did.
I was purchasing a lot of
flooring because I was doing
my townhouse,
my rental,
and then the property that I
live in now,
I was redoing all of the
flooring.
So I was going to make a
really large purchase on my
credit card.
So I called my discover card,
that's what I was using,
and asked if they would give
me a 0% interest for 12
months.
And they said,
yes.
So I was able to make the
purchase for my flooring and
then have more time to pay it
off without paying any
interest.
And then my third tip for
using credit cards and getting
the most out of them is that
if you aren't able to get that
0% interest from your current
credit card company,
then you could sign up for a
new credit card,
just make sure that it has a
sign up bonus and that they
are offering 0% interest for
12 to 18 months.
That way,
when you are making that large
purchase for flooring or
whatever it is,
then you can get a sign up
bonus and have that 0%
interest.
And with different credit
cards,
they're going to have
different amounts for sign up
bonuses.
They'll usually have you spend
a certain amount within a
certain timeframe.
For example,
I recently signed up for a
business credit card and I had
to spend $4,000
within three months,
but then I would receive a
$700 a signup bonus.
So for me,
that was totally worth it
because I was making some
large purchases anyway.
And by opening that new credit
card,
I was able to get 700 bucks
back on my four grand purchase
that I was going to make
anyway.
And it doesn't just have to be
one large purchase.
It's any purchase you make
within that first three
months.
And just a little bonus tip
for you.
If you don't think you're
going to spend that full
amount within the certain
timeframe they are giving you
to get that signup bonus,
then you could always buy a
gift card to somewhere you are
already going to be spending
money.
If you do your grocery
shopping at Smith's,
for example,
you could buy a Smith's gift
card on your credit card,
since you would be spending
that money later anyway,
or you could even do a Target
or Walmart gift card if you
shop there more often or even
Amazon.
And once again,
I don't want you buying a gift
card to somewhere you are not
going to use that gift card.
And then tip number four is to
make sure and get a credit
card that has some type of
cashback rewards or even miles
that you could receive
depending on what works best
for you.
Make sure there is some type
of bonus that you are getting
by using that credit card,
because there are plenty of
credit cards out there with
cashback rewards or sky miles,
make sure you are taking
advantage of that.
For example,
some credit cards just have a
one and a half percent cash
back on every single purchase,
and then other ones do
rotating categories.
So for three months you could
get 5% cash back on gasoline.
And then the next three months
you could get 5% cash back on
your Amazon purchases or
things like that.
So find a credit card that
works best for your spending
habits.
One credit card that I signed
up for pretty recently was the
Venmo credit card because they
offer 3% cashback on certain
categories.
That's a pretty high cashback.
So I ended up opening that
credit card and they were
doing a signup bonus at the
same time.
So I got that signup bonus and
now I can get 3% cash back on
some of my purchases,
just make sure to read the
fine print so you know exactly
what you can and cannot get
cash back on.
And then credit card hack
number five is to get double
rewards.
And this works well if you are
spending a lot of money on
your credit cards,
but essentially if you are
usually getting a statement
credit for your cash back,
that you are earning,
you could actually have a
check sent to you or have that
credit directly deposited into
your checking account from
your credit card.
And that way,
how much ever you received
into your checking account
from your credit card,
you can spend that amount
again on your credit card and
then be getting even more
rewards back from your credit
card.
And then you can pay it off
with that amount that was in
your checking account,
sent there from your credit
card.
And then credit card hack
number seven is to pay off
your balance before the
statement closing date,
if you want to have a little
boost in your credit score,
for example,
if you are looking to buy a
home pretty soon and you want
your credit score to be as
high as possible,
if you pay off that credit
card balance before that
statement date,
then on the statement date,
it gets reported to the credit
bureaus,
but because you've already
paid it off,
then it shows a zero balance,
which means your debt to
income ratio will be a little
bit better pushing up your
credit score.
And if you do want more
details about increasing your
credit score,
I'll leave a link to that
video above and below.
And then credit card hack
number eight is if you are
married,
then each of you could sign up
for your own credit card
instead of just getting an
extra card for the same
account for the other spouse,
because you can both get that
sign up bonus if you are both
signing up for that credit
card.
And since all of us probably
are not married,
I'm going to include another
tip with this one.
I've heard of certain credit
cards that will offer a bonus
if you add someone to your
credit card.
So when you add them to your
credit card,
you'll get that bonus.
Not only that,
if you have good credit,
that will help build up the
other person's credit that you
were adding to your credit
card.
So that's a little tip inside
of a tip and then tip number
nine to getting the most out
of your credit cards.
If you have a business credit
card and you are earning miles
on that credit card,
don't use it for your business
trips,
use it for your personal trips
because you can write off your
business trips on your taxes.
So if you're already going to
be taking a personal trip,
then use those rewards for
that.
And that way you can get a
deduction on your taxes.
And that's only if you are
already going to be taking
those trips and then credit
card tip number 10 to getting
the most out of your credit
cards is to ask for an
increase on your credit limit.
And some credit cards make
this for easy to do,
and some are a little more
difficult to do,
but nonetheless doable.
For example,
with my discover it card,
I can just log into the
discover app and right there
at the top in the center,
it says to increase my credit
limit so I can click on that.
And then it just asks me for
my income and then I think one
other thing,
it's very simple,
and then it immediately
decides if it is going to
increase my credit limit or
not.
And honestly,
every time I've done this with
my discover card,
I have received a credit limit
increase.
With my chase visa card it's a
little more difficult.
They don't allow you to do it
directly in the app or on the
website.
You actually have to call and
ask for that.
And then they run a credit
check on that.
So they're checking your
credit.
So you'll get a little bit of
a ding in your credit score,
not a lot,
and it will go away pretty
quickly,
but by increasing your credit
limit,
that is going to boost your
credit score because your
credit score includes that
debt to income ratio.
So the better you can make
your debt to income ratio,
the better your credit score
is going to be.
So if your credit limit is
going higher,
but your debts are staying the
same or even going lower,
then you are going to be able
to increase your credit score.
So check with your credit
cards right now and see if you
can increase your credit
limit.
And of course,
we don't want to max out our
credit cards and go all the
way to that limit.
We wanna keep it below that
limit and only spend what we
normally be spending.
And then credit card tip
number 11 is to not cancel any
of your credit cards,
even if you are not using
them.
Because if you do cancel those
credit cards,
it could lower your credit
score.
And we don't wanna be lowering
our credit score.
There are some credit cards
that require you to use them
maybe once a year.
So you may have to put a small
purchase on,
on some of those credit cards.
So I just have one little
automated charge that goes on
that visa every quarter.
But honestly,
when I stopped using my
discover it card for a while,
they did not have me make any
purchases.
So it just depends on the
credit card,
but you really don't wanna be
canceling those credit cards
because the longer your credit
history shows on your credit
score then the higher your
credit score is going to be.
Plus it is taking into account
all of the credit limits on
each of your credit cards,
which we already know we want
that to be high.
It also shows the credit
bureaus that you know how to
handle multiple credit cards,
that you have different debts
that you're able to pay off.
Comment below and tell me what
your favorite credit card tip
or hack is.
And I'm sure I missed a lot.
So please share the ones that
I missed as well.
And I just wanna reiterate
again,
that we do not wanna be
spending extra money on our
credit cards that we wouldn't
normally be spending,
and we want to pay them off in
full before we get charged any
interest.
If you found this video
helpful,
please hit that like button
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check out the videos on the
side of the screen.
Thanks so much for watching.
I'll see you in the next
video.