One of the biggest debts that most people have is credit cards. They can be hard to get for some and easy for others. However, once you get them, they are the first thing that goes into debt.

It took me years to get my first credit card and I had to put my own money on it ($200) I did it for two cards one canceled me for not using it and the other took a few years before I got a credit limit from the card.

As I started fixing my credit the easy it got to get credit card approval. The more cards I got the harder it was to keep up with. To top it all off, it was so easy for me to just pull out a card. The more I used the cards the more they gave me money.

I found myself with one card maxed out, I was paying the minimum balance each month but due to interest, I could not get the card down. Not to mention there were things still getting charged on the card that I forgot that I put on auto pay.

So, I had to do something to get my cards under control. I came up with a system that I use to keep my credit cards from going into debt.

Everything Frugal Credit Card System

first I wrote out all my credit cards on a piece of paper

Then I wrote next to each card what I use them for, for example:

Amazon card- I use this for gifts and things for the home

Victoria secret- I use this for underclothes

Walmart- I use this for groceries

Next, I wrote three columns one for the card limit, one for 30% of the card limit, and the last for what I could afford each month. The reason for the 30% was me trying to improve my credit to buy a home. If you want to be a homeowner and you have credit cards you have to keep them at or below 30%. So, this is what my paper looked like:

Amazon Limit 30% budget

$600 $180 $80

I did this for each credit card I had. Then a wrote whether or not the card had cash back. If it did, I wrote the cashback amount in another column.

Example:

Amazon Limit 30% budget cash back

$600 $180 $80 3%

Next, I wrote what cash back apps I was able to stack with the card. Though many cash back apps you just need a receipt (if they are mobile apps) but there are some online apps that you can use to shop online so an example of what that looked like is below:

Walmart Limit 30% budget cash back apps

$300 $90 $80 2% Ibotta, Rakuten

Walmart card is only used for groceries I know that I can use it for other things but that is the main reason that I have this card for Walmart delivery so that is what I based my budget on.

Since I do most of my shopping online (due to me being a really bad compulsive shopper in-store) I am able to use online apps to get cash back when I buy my groceries using these apps. I also have my Walmart account linked to the mobile app, so I automatically get cash back through the link. This card is a cashback card as well, so I get cash back every time I buy groceries with this card.

So through this system I stay below my limit, I get cash back on the card ( to use to bring my out-of-pocket down towards the bill at the end of the month), and I get cash back through the apps( to get gift cards or cash to use for other things), the card is used monthly( this helps bring up my credit score), and by staying on a budget I all ways pay on time and in full.

Some of my cards I had to stop using tell I got them down. Yet once they were down I already had them in my system so I just followed it to keep them down and not into debt.

If you choose to try or use this system, you have to stop using your credit cards if you have high charges on them (tell you to pay the card off, pay it off before reusing it) because if you don’t you just putting yourself more in the hole. I keep my list in my budget binder/ planner, I also update the list when my limit goes up. This way you are always on a budget, and I know what my limit is no matter how much they give me due to me knowing what I can afford.

Well, that’s all I have, for now, I hope this helps you on your journey.

Thank you for reading Everything Frugal.