Another Way I Use Credit Cards to My Advantage

by David@MoneyNing.com · 9 comments

Recently, I started to make bigger purchases around the middle of the month because I found that I can save more money this way.  Most of you are probably a little puzzled by what I just said so let me explain this a little further.

Credit cards have a statement date where they will calculate how much you owe with the due date usually a couple of weeks later. A few weeks ago, I finally realized that if I buy something after the statement date, I won’t really have to pay for it until 50+ days (almost two months) later. Let me give you an example to illustrate.

citibank credit card statement

As you can see on the screen capture, my last statement date is September 10. If I bought something on September 11, the charge would be on my October 10th statement and I wouldn’t have to pay for it until the end of October.

So Why Is This Useful

  1. The obvious is the extra interest that I gain from doing this.  The dollar amount is not that much, but I’m quite happy getting what would seem like free money.
  2. Furthermore, not allowing myself to buy something until the middle of the month is actually a great way to stop splurging.  One of my biggest money leak is impulse buying.  When I want something, I seem to flip on my “passion switch” because I would be thinking about it constantly.  I would convince myself how much I “need” it and then I would finally convince myself to buy it, only to let it sit on my desk collecting dust after a few weeks (sometimes a few days).  Now that I’m not allowing myself to buy anything expensive until the middle of the month, I give myself time to think about my purchase and I end up not buying most of the items that I want.

Oh I wish I found this trick long ago.  I hope that you too will benefit by spending less and keeping more.

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{ read the comments below or add one }

  • Mike Huang says:

    Hmmm, very interesting fact that you stirred up. My wife has also thought about this before and we have done it, but we must also learn to stop splurging 😛

    -Mike

  • MoneyNing says:

    gWallet: The interest is counted from the due date, so as long as you pay before the due date which is 50+ days away, you are essentially getting an interest free loan.

  • gWallet says:

    Nice tip…but are you not going to pay 50 days of pricey credit card company interest by doing this?

  • Andy @ Retire at 40 says:

    My credit card turns over at the start of each month and for a long time, I have saved the bigger purchases until the 1st of the month. I have to pay it by the 24th of the following month. That’s 7.5 weeks later.

    I found it just made perfect sense as soon as I knew how credit cards worked 🙂

  • Joanne says:

    I recently have had some credit problems. I liked my credit cards waaay too much. I think the best thing you can do to recover is to allow yourself enough time to straighten everything all out. Nothing happens overnight, especially fixing a credit score.

  • Debt Reduction says:

    I think beating the credit card companies at thier own game is fun, however you still have to pay them back regardless.

  • philip says:

    Recurring payments won’t really matter on this method because eventually you will have one per statement. I don’t make that many large purchases that I could schedule this way.

    I guess I am about to purchase new tires for my vehicle and if I push it back a few days then that will add some time for interest.

    I do make sure to try to wait until the last possible day for my *scheduled* transaction to pay my credit card to keep my money in savings.

  • Fabulously Broke says:

    I do that as well. I always buy after the 14th of the month so that I’m not under pressure to clear it until later.

  • Miranda says:

    Great point. Sometimes we forget that the statement date can be a big help.

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