Posted by Setting your financial goals can be crucial for managing balances and keeping your finances steady. It can help you define where you want to get in life and it makes it easier to create a successful plan of action. There are many ways that you can help set these goals, with one of the best ways being to select the perfect credit card.
If your financial goal is to earn more money, credit cards can be your best friend. A lot of credit card companies offer rewards programs that give you extras based on how much you spend. This can help with gaining more profits and cashback. There are other ways that credit cards can help with your financial goals, which we will touch on throughout this article. We will also explore how to choose the perfect credit card depending on what your financial goals are.
Paying Off Debt
If you’re currently in any form of debt, paying this off can be a solid financial goal to have. There are many balance transfer credit cards that can help by offering an introductory 0% APR on balances. You will be able to transfer for up to 21 months with these types of credit cards. To take advantage of this, you’ll need to pay a balance transfer charge. This can sometimes be a relatively hefty price, but the savings can be well worth it.
Things To Consider Before You Apply
When selecting a balance transfer credit card, remember to consider:
- How long the offer will last: You should consider whether you can repay the balance during the 0% promotional period. You’ll have to pay interest if you go beyond this.
- What you need to buy: Some of these cards come with a purchase offer. You should check how long this runs for, as it can be different from the balance transfer offer.
- Extra cash access: There are credit card fees and interestcharges associateds with withdrawing cash, so it’s important to understand if you need access to additional cash for this.
Reduce Supermarket Spendings
Saving money on shopping for food and groceries is a very popular financial goal, as many people tend to overspend during supermarket visits. A good way to save money during your food shopping is to use the right kind of credit card. Specific credit cards will offer cashback at certain supermarkets, such as the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express. This type of card offers 6% cashback at certain supermarkets that are under the offer.
Depending on how much you earn in points, these credit cards can lower the amount of your grocery bill, as the rewards you receive with them can be redeemed for statement credits.
Read: 3 Ways to Avoid Credit Card Debt
Increase Savings
Saving more money is a good financial goal to have, as it’s simple and can help you create other financial goals in the future. This can be especially important in today’s times, with interest rates being higher than they were a few years ago, making it more difficult to save money. If you’re looking to get away from these higher interest rates, certain credit cards can help you with this.
High-yield savings accounts can currently offer rates around 5% annual percentage yield (APY). My Banking Direct, TAB Bank and Newtek Bank are some examples of savings accounts that offer an APY that is slightly over 5%. However, they all have different minimum deposits to open so it’s important to research this before deciding on which savings account you should have.
Some types of credit cards can let you earn rewards and invest them right away. Some of these don’t charge any annual fees or foreign transaction fees, which can help with saving more money.
Travelling
Many people want to save money to finance their travel goals. After you have purchased plane tickets, booked a hotel stay, and paid for a hired vehicle, you might need to seek some form of financial assistance. Travel credit cards can allow you to earn rewards and park passes that can be used to cover certain travel expenses.
An application fee credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry is one benefit of having a travel credit card; this can help reduce the anxiety associated with airport issues like layovers by giving you access to unique benefits.
How to Get the Most From Your Credit Card
No matter what your financial goal is, there are key ways that you can get the most out of your credit card usage. This includes:
- Avoiding recurring credit card interest
- Keep balances low
- Don’t miss payments
- Track your spending wisely
- Set yourself a budget
Make sure credit card interest doesn’t get in the way of your objectives. If you use credit cards all year, you should have a plan to stay out of long-term debt and credit card interest. If you do get into credit card debt, you can seek bad debt insurance to help you out.