How to Manage Multiple Credit Cards Effectively?

If you have more than one credit card, you should be careful with your spending and ensure you keep a track of everything. Unfortunately, managing multiple credit cards can be a bit confusing and if aren’t organized, you may end up making some financial blunders. Thankfully, there are some rather simple ways in which you can successfully manage multiple credit cards. We present some tried and tested methods to you in the article. Take a look.

The DOs of managing several credit cards

Let us understand what you must do while managing more than one credit card at a time:

• Use the right card in the right place: One of the main reasons for owning multiple credit cards is using the different cards for different purposes. You may have one card specifically for your car fuel needs. Use this card mainly at the petrol pumps to maximize the rewards. Knowing when to use which card and carrying out the job with precision is one of the biggest DOs of using multiple credit cards.
• Make timely payments: This is another important thing to do when owning more than one credit card. Pay all the credit card bills on time and avoid defaults at all costs. You may pay two bills and forget to pay the third bill. This is dangerous as any default will instantly affect your credit rating. Set up auto-payment modes or just be much disciplined with the credit card bill payments if you use multiple credit cards at a time.
• Keep a tab on the credit card activity: If you have a higher number of credit cards, the chance of getting involved in a fraud is also higher. You, therefore, must always keep a tab on all your credit card activities, across all accounts. If you notice any activity that you haven’t initiated, inform your bank immediately and get it checked at the earliest.

These are the important to-do guidelines to remember when using a number of credit cards simultaneously.

The DON’Ts of managing several credit cards

Next, we list some of the credit card DON’Ts that you must be aware of if you have multiple credit cards:

• Don’t have a lingering balance: Spend only as much as you need and as much as you can. And then, make full payments of the credit card bill each month. Making part payments will only pile up your debts and also have a negative impact on your all-important credit score.
• Don’t get cards with high fees: Many credit cards unnecessarily charge high fees such as annual fees, convenience fees, etc. Stay away from such cards as they will push up your overall expenses quite a bit. Look at the terms and conditions and read the fine print when taking a card to minimize the costs as much as possible.
• Don’t yield to temptation: A higher number of credit cards bring a higher credit limit to you. Don’t get tempted and spend like there’s no tomorrow! Remember the bill would arrive at the end of the month and you would have to take care of it instantly. So know your financial capabilities and keep all the temptations away when using multiple credit cards at once.

These are some simple cautions that you can exercise when using many credit cards together. The underlying warning here is to not become disorganized with your spending. Take care of that and you surely would not have any problems managing multiple credit cards simultaneously.

The bottom line

You can earn rewards, shop with ease and even get cash back rewards if you choose and use your credit cards wisely. However, using multiple credit cards at the same time may be a tricky job to undertake. You have to be extremely disciplined with your spending and organized with your repayments. Keep the tips and suggestions mentioned above in mind when you use more than one card. Multiple credit cards can indeed be used with ease, provided you know what you are doing with them. So take a good hard look at your financial health, your monetary requirements and then decide whether or not you need multiple credit cards. If you do, go ahead and get them.