Using a credit card has many benefits, like no need to carry too much cash. It's just one card and you are all ready to do shopping! However, along with its usage, come a host of burdens as well, the most common and important being credit card fraud. You could even lose one of your cards, for that matter. The pin number is not enough of a security, as a little software knowledge is enough to decode one. So it becomes very necessary to track the credit card purchases on a regular basis. Another reason for doing this is to control your spending spree. Since, you do not have hard cash on you, the psychological barrier to prevent you from spending more is not there. Even the high interest rate fails to stop you. Since eliminating credit card from your life is not at all feasible, it is better to do the next best thing, i.e. keep a watch. When you keep a track of your spending, you realize how much you are spending and can curb the expenditure to quite an extent. In case you now want to learn how to keep a track of your credit card purchases, check out the lines that follow.
Ways Of Tracking Your Credit Card Purchases
- Keep all the receipts of your credit card transactions in a file. You can even make weekly or monthly sections in the same.
- Register on your bank's website, so that you can check your account as well as credit card transactions online.
- Activate the text alert feature on your online banking profile. In this way, you will receive alerts on your cell phone if any purchase is made with your card.
- Every month, review the credit card statements, so that you will come to know if any purchases were made without your knowledge.
- Maintain a notebook where you note down all your credit card purchases. You can also go for financial software programs, like Quicken and AceMoney.
Advantages Of Credit Card
- Credit cards allow you to be more flexible. You don’t have to carry a lot of cash to make purchases.
- It is easy to keep records of transactions in a single statement.
- Credit cards are very good in remote purchasing. You can go for phone or online shopping, which can be very easily paid through credit card. Also, for large payments, you can pay in small, monthly installments.
- You also have the advantage of withholding payments for defective products.
- Short-term borrowings through credit cards are cheap, as interest is not paid on the full loan amount.
- There are many additional benefits, like insurance cover, discounts, and points that can be accumulated to get more discounts.
Disadvantages Of Credit Card
- The urge to over spend becomes strong. A credit card at hand makes you an impulsive buyer. You also tend to buy those goods that are unaffordable to you.
- Though the interest rates vary, most of them are quite high. So, if not used carefully, credit card becomes an expensive way of obtaining credit.
- You can incur unwanted expense and inconvenience if your credit card is lost or stolen.
- Too much dependence on credit card can push you into the debt trap.
- Online transactions do not have foolproof security and so, there is always an element of risk involved. Stolen credit card details can be used to make fraudulent purchases and it may take months to investigate and resolve the same.