Can’t get your head around the title? It can be slightly difficult to understand this bit of advice – you can actually make money from spending money. Surely this goes against everything you’ve been told – if you want to save money, then you have to not spend as much and cut back! Sure, this is in part true, but there are some times when you do need to spend. Everyone needs food, clothes and shelter, and these aren’t free (I feel slightly envious of our ancestors who had these things for free, and didn’t need a real “job”!)
Anyway, the principle behind this idea is that any necessary, regular spending that you do have, you carry out on a cashback credit card. Perhaps this piece of advice is even more alarming then the first – using a credit card to save yourself money! Well, we can assure you we’ve not gone crazy and this is a completely genuine and legitimate way to make (or save yourself) quite a lot of money each year.
A cashback credit card, you probably aren’t too surprised to hear, is a credit card which pays you cashback on all of your purchases. The rate of cashback is usually between 1% and 5% depending on who’s card you’re using and what you’re using it for. An average rate is probably 3% and this will be on a card which can be used for any kind of purchase.
This is the most important piece of advice for you to take home. You need to use a credit card on any purchases you’re making, and you need to have a direct debit set up and in place to pay back the credit amount in full, every month. Otherwise you will be stung by the high rate of APR these credit companies have. This after all is how they’re able to offer you the cashback in the first place – they rely on the people who are going to have trouble paying off their debts in full, forcing them to pay a very high interest rate. This wont be you – not if you follow our advice. Set up a direct debit to pay off the spending on the credit card and you’ll sleep easily at night.
So perhaps you’re interested in finding out exactly how much money you can make, or save, by using this method? Okay well firstly its not going to make you rich, that’s for sure. What it does mean though is that by not using one of these credit cards for your purchases then you’ll be simply flushing money down the toilet. This is money that is yours for the taking, and if you’re not willing to do it then you’ll be losing out on free money.
As mentioned, the amount of money you could save varies on the card provider and the purchase types. Some offer 5% for a few months, others 3% forever, it varies and can change. The average card, offering a standard 3% permanently on all purchases, could earn you just over $200 from spending $10,000 during a year. If you spend more then this you’ll earn more back.
Okay fine its not going to make you rich overnight, but it is money that is out there and which is available for you, for free. All you need to do is to apply for the card, make purchases on it as normal (fuel, food, bills, etc) and have a direct debit setup to pay off the amount in full. And afterall, living in the current economic climate, who wouldn’t want some money back on their spending? It only takes a few hours to set it up and start getting money back on purchases.