making a budget

5 Ways Your Credit Card Can Help You Manage Your Finances

Jason Steele — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 08:30:10 +0000

When most people think of credit cards and personal finances, they imagine the former ruining the latter. It's incredibly easy to make purchases with your credit card, which can be both its greatest strength and its most profound weakness.

But rather than seeing credit cards as an enemy of your budgeting efforts, consider all the ways your cards can actually help you to manage your financial life. Try thinking of your credit cards as incredibly powerful financial tools that can be harnessed to achieve your goals.

Here are five ways that your credit card can help you manage your finances.

1. Keeping records

One of the great things about both credit cards and debit cards is that they can offer you a record of every transaction you make. Your statements include the merchant name, the date of the transaction, and the amount. So if you ever wonder where your money is going, this is one way to find out in great detail. (See also: Top 7 Reasons I Use My Credit Cards for Everything)

2. Paying taxes

The record of all your payments can be vital when it comes time to complete your taxes. Your credit card statements can help you to identify and claim charitable contributions and other deductions, as well as business expenses.

3. Tracking category spending

Many credit cards have reporting features built in, so you can see statistics on where your money is being spent. For example, you can find out if you spent more at restaurants this month versus last, or how much you've been spending at gas stations. If you're a small-business owner, your credit card may contain even more robust expense reporting tools. Using these tools, you can see if you need to adjust your budget or tighten up spending in certain areas. (See also: Best Credit Cards for Your Small Business)

4. Smoothing out your cash flow

Our income and our expenses are never as predictable as we would like them to be. Freelancers and small business owners occasionally deal with delayed payments from, and all of us will eventually have an unexpected home repair, car repair, or health care bill. Thankfully, your credit card can be used as a shock absorber of sorts for your personal finances. When a large bill arrives, or your income is delayed, you can rely on your credit card's grace period to hold you over until you can make ends meet.

A credit card's grace period is the time between when your statement period closes and your payment is due. When you pay your statement balance in full before the grace period ends, nearly all credit cards waive your interest charges. By law, a credit card's grace period must be at least 21 days, but many have grace periods of 25 days. This means that you could have as many as 30 days before your statement period ends, plus as many as 25 days to pay your balance in full. That adds up to an interest-free float of up to 55 days on your credit cards, giving you a lot of time to get your finances in order while avoiding interest charges.

5. Earning rewards

When you avoid interest charges by paying your monthly statement balances in full, then you can earn rewards from your credit cards at no cost. For example, some credit cards offer cash back or travel statement credits worth a percentage of all your purchase transactions — sometimes as high as 2 percent on every purchase. Two percent might not sound like a lot, but it can help you to make ends meet.

Instead of earning cash back, some people use travel rewards credit cards to earn frequent flyer miles or hotel points. When you are able to use these travel rewards instead of paying out of pocket for a flight or a hotel stay, it's another way that your credit card can help you save money and manage your budget. (See also: Best Travel Credit Cards for Small Businesses)

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This article is from Jason Steele of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

34 Ways to Come Up With the Rent Before the Month Ends

Max Wong — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 09:00:08 +0000

When you are short on rent, $300 might as well be $3,000,000. Finding the money seems impossible. But don't despair! Here's a list of ways to come up with the rent this month and every month.

1. Call in your markers

Do people owe you money? Now is the time to call in those loans.

2. Return your recent purchases

Did a recent shopping spree put you in this rental money crisis? You can even return unused items through your credit card if the store refuses.

3. Ask for overtime at work

Let your employer and your coworkers know that you are looking for additional shifts.

4. Take over a contract

Is your employer paying an outside contractor for work you could do on the side? Offer to do the job for a flat fee (to be paid outside your regular paycheck).

5. Be a great reference

My husband's company pays up to $5,000 per referral to employees who successfully recruit top talent.

6. Cash in on commuter benefits

Some employers allow their workers to make pre-tax payroll deductions to help pay for commuting costs. Other employers offer money saving commuter perks like free parking to carpoolers, free use of company bikes, or paying for public transit costs outright.

7. Get a second job

This might seem like a no-brainer, but you would be shocked by how many people don't look beyond their 9-5 job for extra cash. (See also: 15 Ways to Make Money Outside Your Day Job)

8. Join the gig economy

Drive for Uber, Lyft, or Caviar. Find a job using TaskRabbit or Upwork. Use Fiverr and Mechanical Turk to find micro gigs that you can complete in minutes. (See also: Find a Side Gig at These 4 Best Micro-Jobs Sites)

9. Create your own job

Every job that I have ever loved I have invented. Find something that needs to get done and do it for money. Babysit for your neighbors. Monetize your DJ abilities. Shovel snow. There are all sorts of long- and short-term jobs that require your skill set.

10. Offer day labor on a farm

Farms are always short on labor. It's a physically demanding way to make a buck, but if you like working outside, day laboring on a farm might be a solution to your financial woes.

Also, a side perk of many farm jobs is access to free produce. Reduce your grocery bills and get the rent paid!

11. Tuneup your finances

Are you paying for services that you aren't using? Go through your monthly expenses with a fine-toothed comb. You might be shocked by how much money you are wasting. (See also: How to Escape the Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycle)

12. Delete duplicate accounts

Are you paying for multiple streaming video services? Can you entertain yourself with just one? Or, can you suspend or delete all of your subscription services until you get a grip on your finances?

13. Audit your accounts

Examine your bank statements closely. Are you paying extra fees for services that you don't use? Call your credit card company. Are you getting the best interest rate that you can get?

14. Clear out costly apps

There are many free apps and programs that provide a premium service for a fee. Are you using each of the pro versions enough to warrant the extra costs?

15. Cash in your credit card reward points

One of my friends tracks all her reward programs on an Excel spreadsheet so she never misses a perk. Are you leaving money on the table? Can you cash out your reward points for gift cards that you can resell or use to offset other line items in your budget?

16. Sell your stuff

The average American home contains over 300,000 items and many of those can be sold off for cold hard cash. Bonus: If you have been trying to downsize, now is the time to purge your home of unwanted items. (See also: Clear Out That Clutter: 15 Places to Sell Your Stuff)

17. Sell your gift cards

In some states, you can get cash for gift cards with a low balance. But there are a number of other ways to convert gift cards into cash.

18. Sell your collections

Collections can be hugely valuable. But before you hock Grandma's jewels, look around your house for hidden treasures. You would be shocked by the value of your old Starbucks mugs, concert T-shirts, and other random housewares. (See also: 10 Old Knick-Knacks You Can Flip for Easy Cash)

19. Sell your nostalgia

My husband just made $960 selling his old Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Dreamcast games. But even more recent games can have value. Last year, I sold a copy of Kuon, a PlayStation 2 game, for $200.

Vintage analog toys such as board games, Breyer horses, Matchbox cars, Lego sets, action figures, and dolls can all fetch a small fortune on eBay. My friend Steve sold his collection of vintage Blythe dolls for $29,000, enough pay for the down payment on his home!

20. Sell bulky items on Craigslist

Sell bulky and hard-to-ship items like furniture, cast iron pans, and glassware on Craigslist so you don't have to fiddle with shipping.

21. Host a garage sale

My husband and I throw three garage sales a year that net us between $500 and $1,000 annually. Our garage sale inventory consists of random crap we couldn't sell elsewhere for more money. We price our garage sale merchandise to move, typically charging $1 to $5 for just about everything. The way we see it, if people are paying us to declutter our home, they deserve the bargain.

22. Set up a lemonade stand

To augment our garage sale profits, we sell lemonade or brownies for $1 per serving. In cold climates, you can sell hot cocoa or coffee to your shoppers.

23. Trash pick and flip

Are you already a minimalist who sold all her stuff ages ago? Don't worry. You can always sell other people's stuff! Since most rental contracts start at the first of the month, the last week of the month (when people are moving out) is always a great time to scrounge for curbed furniture and other items that renters don't want to pay to move. Sell your found treasures at a garage sale, or use Craigslist or an app like 5miles to advertise your merchandise to local customers.

24. Recycle

Why give the $.05 rebate per can that you paid for to someone else? University campuses and concert venues are a prime place to scrounge for bottles and cans.

25. Sell your books and music

While you will make more money selling your media on sites like Amazon and Half.com, you may not make an online sale in time to help your rent payment. For fast cash, sell your books, movies, and music to brick and mortar stores in your area.

26. Have a plant sale

Do you have a green thumb? Root cuttings from your garden or hook up with a local landscaper for their castoffs.

Or, sell heirloom vegetable seedlings. A package of 25 tomato seeds costs me about $8, or $0.40 per seed. But I can sell my tomato seedlings for $2 each at my neighborhood farmers market.

27. Sell your body, legally

There are numerous legal ways to sell your body for money. You can sell your sperm or eggs for thousands of dollars, but those donations require that your money be escrowed for at least six months and an equally long time commitment. For quick rent money, you can sell blood, platelets, plasma, breast milk, and, if you live in Massachusetts, your poop.

28. Stop driving

Do you have a less convenient, but also less expensive commuting option? Now is the time to learn to love the bus. Save on gas money and car repair costs by walking, biking, carpooling, or taking public transportation to work.

29. Monetize your commute

My friend Duke operates a mobile record store every Friday on his train commute to work. My neighbor knits hats during her daily bus rides. She makes enough money each month with her commuter knitting to pay for her metro card.

30. Advertise with your car

And if you can’t do without your car, make some extra dough by turning it into a rolling billboard. (See also: 7 Ways to Earn Extra Money With Your Car)

31. Rent out part of your house

My brother-in-law rents out his spare bedrooms in his suburban mini mansion to foreign students who are attending the local college. In addition to offsetting his mortgage, his daughter gets free Mandarin lessons. (See also: This Is How You Rent Your Place on Airbnb)

Pro tip: If you can find a housesitting gig at the same time, you can double up your house-renting profit.

32. Become an Airbnb host

Even if you don't have space to rent out, you can still be a host via the Airbnb Experiences program. Airbnb is a great place to advertise your local expertise as a specialty tour guide. For example, a chef could host a two-hour cooking experience or an experienced hiker could host a multiday camping excursion.

33. Leverage your parking space

If you live next to a university, hospital, concert venue, or sports arena, consider renting out your parking space. (See also: The 11 Best Websites for Renting Your Extra Space)

34. Rock the garage

Rent your garage out to your favorite local band as a practice space. Or, if you value your peace and quiet, rent your garage as studio space for photographers, sculptors, and woodworkers.

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This article is from Max Wong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: