Moving to another country exposes me to a lot of new thing. One of it is the magical item named Credit Card. Well, it’s a common item but really i have never had one, not until i had to move. It was because i was raised in an environment where we have been taught to pay everything in cash. in a sense that : we shouldn’t owe money to someone else and to live according to our income. However, things change and i will need one anyhow thanks to all On-Line transactions.
When i got here, this is where i realise things are different. On the early days, I have my credit card but i still use my debit card. Then, i discover there is a PayWave method where you will only need to ‘wave’ your card on the reader and that’s it. It’s convenient but i am insecure. 😛 Hence, i started to use my credit card cause at least with that you can report fraud, etc. Note that PayWave has its limit and it’s actually not much especially when you use it in Europe. Conversion to Euro makes the PayWave limit looks like…a grain of sand on the beach. Long story short, my credit card bill starts to pile up and here comes some learnings.
Paying minimum amount
Never ever done this. For a short period i was like black out and forgetting that paying minimum amount will result on penalties. In the end you will pay more. Geez! i regret it so much. You could get whole lot other things instead of paying the penalties. My advise is that pay your transactions within 1 – 2 Days when it’s charged to the card. If it’s not possible choose 2 dates where you should pay the bills. The penalty will be imposed for transactions which is more than 30 Days. Thus, dividing the payment into 2 period will be a saver way in my opinion.
Using Installment
This one probably still on 50:50 basis either to do or not to do. For me, i will avoid this as much as possible. I did it once and only by then i realised it consume the credit limit. It was troublesome for the subsequent purchase. In the end i ask the bank to charge in lump. LOL. I was a novice user. Now, what i do is pay everything then if i need to make it on installment basis i manage it manually on my end when i seperate the expenses on my own note.
Credit Card Points and Other Special Offer
This is a plus side of having a credit card. You collect points along the way which you could redeem for other items. Other than that credit card has its own merit when come to special offer in participating merchants. check it when you make your payment.
All in all, i think using credit card is not bad as long as you pay your bill on time and you don’t overspend. It’s convenient and when you travel a lot it will ease lots of things although sometimes i want to cry a river when i pay the bills –> isn’t it a part of growing up that we detest?
Wish you have a better experience than i am. Cheers! 😉
Wanderer 