Getting the best credit card for your needs will take some work, but it will be worth it in the long run. Whether you want it so you don't have to carry cash or you're a business owner who wants to keep track of all your business expenses, there will usually be one card that is a little better for you than the others. Here are some things to look for to help you find the right credit card.
Find out what your main credit card use is.
What do you want to use your credit card for the most? This is likely the most important question to ask right away. This should give you a good idea of what kind of card to look for. For example, if you own your own business or travel a lot for work, there are a couple of cards that will help you save a lot of money.
If you fly a lot, choose a credit card that gives you a lot of air miles right away and gives you a lot of ways to spend the points. It should also be possible to use your points to pay for hotel rooms and maybe even rent a car.
If you drive a lot, get a gas card that gives you rebates on your gas and points that you can use for car rentals or a new car. There are also business credit cards that can help you with these things and let you use your points to buy new office equipment and other things that every business needs.
If you are a student or a mother who just wants to use it for simple things like gas, food, prescriptions, and pizza money, you just need a regular card that gives you rewards for these kinds of purchases. You could get up to a 3% rebate on these items. On other types of purchases, you could get more. You may only get a 1% rebate from many cards, but if you look around, you can get the full 3%.
Need to combine your debts?
If you have a lot of credit card debt, you can use a new credit card to help pay off some of it. This is how. Get a credit card with 0% APR interest that lets you transfer balances to it, but make sure there are no balance transfer fees.
There are a lot of credit cards that have these fees, but there are also a lot that don't. Why pay for it when someone else will give it to you for free? You also want to make sure that the introductory benefits last at least a year. Some only last for three months. Then, if you still owe money on this card, make sure to get a new one before the year is up so you can get another year of 0% APR interest on it.
How to Use Your Credit Card to Get the Most Out of It
No matter what perks come with your credit card, you won't use them much if you don't do two things. The first thing you should do is make sure you pay your credit card bills on time so you don't have to pay late fees every month. Some credit card companies only need you to be late once to start charging you the full amount of interest from that point on. After the introductory period is over, you should pay off the bill in full every month to avoid paying interest.
Set up a good credit score.
Many people can't buy bigger things they really want because they have too much debt on their credit cards. For example, they can't buy that nice house they've wanted for a long time. If you use it wisely, the best credit card will also help you build, keep up, or fix your credit score.
