A credit card is a card to say “these people will pay you and I’ll owe them money”
With a gift card, you’re choosing items that have already been paid for, the company already got the money and you’re just picking out what you want to buy with it
A credit card is a card to say “these people will pay you and I’ll owe them money”
With a gift card, you’re choosing items that have already been paid for, the company already got the money and you’re just picking out what you want to buy with it
Money first, stuff later = gift card
Stuff first, money later + extra money = credit card
If you can pay your statement balance on time, then there is no “+ extra money”.
~That is often much easier said than done.~
It’s easy, my bank automatically pays off my cc monthly from my current account. Isn’t it standard?
I guess it depends on what you call it. I’ve seen creditors that have autopay features that can draft it from your bank accounts each month. Usually those are for your minimum payment, which usually stretch out your balance for up to 30 years (to maximize interest charges).
I personally don’t like autopay. It’s an old habit from back when I would overdraft my checking on the regular because I always spent more than I made. Nowadays, I think it’s because I like the responsibility/control of paying my bills manually, and on my terms.
You mean less money right? Most credit cards give you 1-2% back.
If you pay your bills on time, you can take advantage of that. You can think of it as a tiny discount, but the credit card company thinks of you as dead weight.
However, those companies also have clever mathematicians who have figured out how much to give you back and how much interest to demand from the people who don’t pay their bills on time. The house always wins.
The house wins as a whole, sure.
But on an individual level, if you are smart about it you’ll spend less than you would with other payment methods.
Exactly