subject: Everyday Purchases And Your Credit Card [print this page] One of the first things a reputable credit counselor will tell you is to never use your card to purchase everyday items. Such items include things like soap, toilet paper, and groceries.
Did I mention toilet paper?
With our economy in the dumps and unemployment figures rising rapidly all across the country, hard decisions must be made by ordinary citizens. For many of us such decisions involve instances where their credit cards should be used and those where they should not.
So when Should a Credit Card be Used?
Let us start with the positive use of credit cards. That credit card should be used for one of the following two purposes:
1. As a means to build credit. There is no need to borrow money to purchase a certain item you want. On the other hand, you are attempting to build up your credit and that can't be done without digging out that dusty old credit card from the depths of the desk drawer and putting it to use.
2. As a last resort to pay for an emergency. When the unexpected happens, such as an engine failure in your normally reliable car while 1,000 miles away from home, by all means use the card. When your hot water heater blows up in the basement and fills it with scalding water, use the card. Nobody has $5,000 big ones lying around to cover such emergency situations and a credit card is a godsend here.
Sometimes even Using your Credit Card for Everyday Staples can be Appropriate
It's so true that you can never say never. Life isn't all that cut and dried.
Things are never just black and just white. There are many gray areas that must be considered occasionally. Sometimes those everyday staples add up to a substantial amount of money whether the plastic is handy or not. Today's gruesome economy and job picture has thrown many families into dire circumstances.
When given the choice between buying formula for the baby and not having any when the next feeding rolls around, you're going to whip out that plastic without thinking twice. Believe me, I've been there. The money crunch hurts. But there's an upside to using your credit card for the usual suspects that you're going to enjoy if you did your homework when you picked your card in the first place, and that's reward points.
I can't go into detail with this as each credit card issuer has a distinctive rewards plan (if they offer one at all) and so have no idea how your particular plan works. We will stick to the credit cards that reward you with points for purchases made on the card. Those reward points can then be cashed in for all sorts of merchandise. The more you use the card the more points you accumulate and the more stuff you can get for nothing. Hey, you can use it the next time you purchase toilet paper!
