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How to Manage Multiple Credit Cards |
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by: Debbie Dragon
If you're like the “average American”, chances are you've got as many credit cards as you have fingers! Most American's have between five and ten credit cards. Credit cards have been considered necessary for many years now, particularly for people who like to make purchases by telephone or the internet, and people who like to travel. Have you ever tried to reserve a restaurant, hotel, or book a flight without a credit card? It's downright impossible!
That being said, people probably don't need to have one credit card for every finger! Having multiple credit cards becomes a challenge when it comes to knowing what kind of rewards you're earning, knowing whether or not you're maximizing your rewards programs to their greatest potential, and knowing when each of the credit card payments are due. It's shockingly easy to think you've already paid your credit card accounts when you have several to pay each month; and then extremely frustrating when you see two of your credit card statements the following month have $39 (or higher!) late fees because you forgot to pay them! Even more frustrating is knowing that many of your credit cards probably participate on the Universal Default policy – meaning if you are late on one of your accounts, the other accounts have the right to raise your interest rate, too.
If you've got multiple credit cards, you need to take action to manage them better. Here are some tricks to making credit card management a little easier – and save you time and money over the long term:
Consolidate Credit Cards: If possible, move your balances around so you don't have quite as many credit cards. If you have one or two cards with room, set up a balance transfer to wipe out a few of your smaller balance cards. Having three or four credit cards is much easier to keep track of than having eight or more.
Coordinate Due Dates: If you have credit cards with due dates all over the calendar each month, chances are you're missing some of your due dates – or you're spending a lot of time each month paying your bills and checking to be sure you've paid each one before it's due. It's fairly simple to coordinate the due dates on your credit cards. Get on the phone with customer service for each of your accounts, and find out if they'll let you change your due dates. Make as many cards as you can afford due at the same time, so you can sit down once or twice a month to pay your bills rather than having to remember to do it every couple of days.
Use Online Payments: Just about every credit card will allow you to pay your bill online. Instead of buying, writing, and mailing checks through the mail, you can use your credit card online account to manually make a payment by entering the amount and clicking “pay”! You save the cost of the paper check, and the cost of the stamp – plus about 10 minutes of your time. Make a folder in your favorites or bookmarks of each of your credit card account websites, and you can sign in quickly and make payments in a matter of minutes.
Consider Using Automated Payments: If you always have enough money in your checking account to cover your expenses, it may be a good idea for you to pay your credit card bills automatically each month. You can set it up with a due date and have the credit card automatically receive it's monthly payment via your checking account. All you need to do is remember to keep enough money in the account to cover the bills and avoid bank overdraft fees!
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Credit Card Articles > Credit Card Education > How to Manage Multiple Credit Cards
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