With me? Good. These are both essential foundations that you need to follow in order to live in Credit-Card Utopia.
Now, let me flavor it up for you.
What could be better than zero interest credit cards? What could be better than having the best, lowest, guaranteed credit card in your wallet?
1) How about cash? Would that work for you?
How about a big fat check at the end of the year, in the thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars?
Would you like to get PAID thousands of dollars each year, just for spending money that you ALREADY SPEND?
You might realize that I'm not talking DIRECTLY about interest rates. But listen, I can't get much lower then zero interest. I need you to think creatively with me now.
2) Rewards Cards, otherwise known as incentive-based credit cards. Let's start there.
These are no secret. Many of us have rewards cards. I have several, in fact, and I get many rewards for spending with them. I get airline miles, and I get gas vouchers, and I get discounts at online stores?AND?I get Cash.
But let me talk about a HUGE secret that most people are not yet fully exploiting for their personal and financial gain.
3) My family and I are just now getting into making money with Cash-Back offers:
Cash rebates, Cash-Back cards, those are the ones I want to focus on with you here, for a second.
How do these cash-back cards lower your interest rate? Well, at this stage, it's a semantics game, but if you have 9% interest for example, and you use a cash-back credit card that pays you 3% on all transactions?Well, that's like getting a 3% discount on the rate, so your charge is more along the lines of 6%. It's not EXACTLY like that, but you get the point.
More importantly, let's dig deeper.
4) I'm going to tell you how to TURBO-CHARGE this mechanism, and EXPLOIT IT FOR EVERYTHING it's WORTH.
You see, your credit card company wants you to spend as much money as possible with their plastic.
Yes, they'd like to charge you interest on debt. But even if you pay it off every month, did you know that they still make a profit on the transaction from the Merchant fees?
Yes, the credit card charges the merchant a fee for swiping your card. It can range anywhere from 1% to as high as 6%...
It does not impact you the consumer (directly), but it does give you some insight into why you can become business partners with your credit card company.
5) Secret # 3 revealed: Here's what my family and I are doing:
We use our cash-back credit card for EVERYTHING.
We simply have restructured our spending so that all expenses, or almost all expenses, go through our cash-back credit card.
Grocery stores, restaurants, shopping, dining, gas?Everything. In fact, as of the writing of this article, American Express® has developed a Bill-Pay type system so we are able to actually pay some of our bills using our cash-back credit card.
Can you imagine? A credit card company developing online bill-pay. Now, how SMART is that?
6) Let me ask you something. How much money do you spend every year on expenses?
Don't get your calculator out, because the answer is simple. You basically, spend?.AS MUCH AS YOU MAKE?
The vast majority of us do. So, let me ask you the same question a different way: How much money do you make?
How much is 3% to 5% of that?
I'll give you an example. If the average household income (and expenses) were around $50,000, then that means a savvy consumer, with a cash-back credit card, could generate a check every year of between $1500 and $2500.
7) Holly Cape Canaveral, Batman!!! That's $2500 free cash dollars, every single year!
What would YOU do with all that free money? Buy a vacation, a new TV, some jewelry?
Are you getting it, now?
You must start looking at the Cash-Back credit card as more then just an incentive or reward.
Frankly, it is a new source of income.
8) Now, here's the nitty-gritty on how we do this. It's simple.
The first step, is we gathered all our credit cards, put them in an envelope, and put that envelope in our lockbox in the attic. We replaced all our plastic in our wallet with the cash-back credit card of choice. We also put an emergency debit card in our wallet, but the primary method now for spending, is to use the cash-back card. This takes care of gas, food, restaurants, etc.
The second step, is the process of restructuring expenses through the online bill-pay system with our cash-back credit card company.
We re-route as many expenses as possible through our cash-back card. It takes a little time, and doesn't happen in one day.
But do the legwork. Be a smart consumer like my family and I.
9) There's a perk, too!
The perk is outstanding! Have you considered, that my family and I only really have one payment a month to make? That's the goal we're moving towards anyway.
So, think about how many bills you pay each month. Wouldn't it be nice to just make one payment out for all your expenses, rather then a check to the gas-card, a check to the utilities, a check to the Credit Card Company, etc.?
Think of the convenience and time saved, to just make one payment out each month.
10) A lot of information to take in, yes? Let's pause here:
If you've followed my train of thought, then you've come to the Secret knowledge of how to extract and exploit the power of these cash-back cards for everything they are worth. If you do this, even just the first part, you will take a money saving incentive program, and turbo-charge it into an actual income producing technology!
Pretty, cool, huh? SHHH! It's a Utopian secret.
We've enjoyed providing this information to you, and we wish you the best of luck in your pursuits. Remember to always seek out good advice from those you trust, and never turn your back on your own common sense.
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About The Author
Tom Levine provides a solid, common sense approach to solving problems and answering questions relating to consumer loan products. His website seeks to provide free online resources for the consumer, including rate-watch, tips and articles, financial communication, news, and links to products and services. You can check out Tom's website here: http://loanresource.org, or you can email Tom at info@loanresource.org.
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