One from the perks of carrying multiple charge cards has been capable of taking benefit of different rewards.?But when staying organized isn’t your forte, you may?be skeptical about having the ability to remain on surface of payments so when to maximise which rewards. Never fear – the Nerds possess some tips to help you get your cards in order?so you can make the most of their offerings.
Make your instalments on time
If you’re managing multiple credit cards, forgetting to create a payment is a real danger. Should this happen, you’ll not just have to pay a late fee, but you’ll also begin incurring interest around the unpaid balance. Use these ideas to avoid forgetting your due dates:
Create reminders:?Most credit cards offer email or text alerts to help you remain on top of your due dates and keep you apprised of your balances. But when you prefer to keep the inbox level low, you can create your personal notification system by setting up a calendar reminder on your phone or computer or making a habit of paying off balance once per week on the same day.
Set up auto-pay:?Credit card issuers usually offer an automatic payment feature to learn effectively to pay promptly. You can choose to pay the minimum payment, the entire statement balance or a fixed amount. The Nerds recommend paying your full statement balance every time. When using auto-pay, keep close track of your checking account balance. If you don’t have enough money in checking to cover the automatic payment, you could get hit by having an overdraft fee.
Change your payment dates:?A fantastic way to make sure you pay your credit cards off promptly would be to do it all at once. Although credit card issuers aren’t necessary to improve your deadline, most are willing to accommodate you should you ask. Some even allow you to choose your deadline inside your internet account. This can be also helpful in case your credit card due dates don’t fall in line with your payday or are too near to other big payment dates such as?rent or your loan payment.
Maximize your rewards
If you have several rewards credit card, you will probably find it hard to keep tabs on which rewards categories each card offers. To help make the much of your perks:
Keep it all in one location: Create a spreadsheet and list the reward categories for each credit card. After that you can save the spreadsheet for your phone via Dropbox, Google Drive or Evernote to check on before you decide to pay.
Set up your wallet for success:?Organize your credit cards by how often you use them. For instance, keep your card you utilize for everyday purchases in the bank at the very top and consider leaving the airline card you utilize only when booking flights at home.
Know when you should cut back
With the best habits, you can now learn how to manage multiple charge cards without running into problems. However, it’s vital that you know when enough is sufficient. Should you start feeling like you’re not able to add another card without losing control, pay attention to your instinct. No reward program or sign-up bonus may be worth being?saddled with late fees or credit debt.
Ben Luthi is a staff writer covering personal finance for?NerdWallet. Follow him on Twitter @benluthi and on Google+.
