3 Reasons A Credit Card Will Improve Your Way Of Life

  • Category: News  |
  • 5 Dec, 2017  |
  • Views: 4369  |
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Some of us are all too eager to apply for credit. Credit cards are particularly useful, especially for those of us who have a thick skin when it comes to finances. For many, however, the thought of a credit card can be like a punch to the stomach. It comes with memories of parents struggling to pay off debt. It comes with thoughts of that dreaded day when the money might dry up and we’re left in the red.

However, credit cards should not be intimidating, even to the financially insecure. Today, using a credit card can make your life easier, and even improve your financial situation.

Of course, it’s important to choose the best option for your needs. Sites like GreedyRates.ca make that a lot easier by aggregating the best and worst things about every option.

For those unsure of why they should get a credit card, here are 3 of the most relevant reasons.

1. Build your credit score

This is probably the most practical reason you need a credit card. In order to get credit to buy assets, such as a house or a car, you need a good credit score. To get a good credit score, you need to prove that you can handle credit. To get credit to handle in the first place, you need a good credit score! The circle would be closed were it not for credit cards.

Credit card companies do not require you to have a credit score. They will give you credit according to how much you earn. By getting a credit card and paying something off (even a small sum) on a monthly basis, you can get a credit score. This opens the door to other big life decisions, and gives you the means to live the life you want to.

2. Rewards programs

Rewards programs can also open doors for you. You probably think of these rewards as tiny bonuses given to make a credit card seem attractive. But there’s no potential to actually make anything out of it, right?

Actually, rewards programs can bring you quite significant bonuses. If you love traveling, travel miles can get you places. If you want cash back, cash back rewards can free up money for luxuries you would have otherwise had to save up for.

These programs reward you for using the credit card in a way that benefits the company. If you put the effort in and do the admin, both you and the credit card company win.

3. Not living paycheck to paycheck

Let’s be clear. If you mismanage your credit card, you'll end up living paycheck to paycheck with yet another expense – paying back the credit card.

However, the average person starts working without any savings in the bank. And most people aren’t lucky enough to earn so much that they can start saving immediately. Many people live paycheck to paycheck not because they're irresponsible with their money, but because they have to.

A credit card gives you an extra bit of leeway in case of emergency, the ability to occasionally treat yourself, and a sense of security despite the knowledge that one month may come with higher expenses than another.

By treating your credit with care, it can be a safety net, rather than a spiral into debt. You won’t have to live paycheck to paycheck, unsure of how to manage a crisis when it inevitably arises.