Managing Multiple Credit Lines
Organization is the most important tool for managing multiple credit lines in order to get the full benefits they offer. By paying off your bills in a timely fashion, paying off the balances in full and not accruing too much debt in general you will experience the benefit of an improved credit score, 0% financing offerings, as well as be able to take full advantage of the reward programs many credit card programs offer.
There are several things you can do to make managing your multiple credit lines a breeze:
- Make sure your checking account provides complimentary online bill paying service. Online banking is incredibly helpful in ensuring that your bills will be paid in a timely fashion, thus keeping all your credit lines current.
- By accessing your account information online and using a calculator, you can easily figure out your monthly budget including all your credit lines.
- Make sure to add all your “bill payees” under the “bill pay” section of your online banking account.
- Then schedule “recurring payments” for fixed expenses for such things as housing costs, cable and any loan amount that is a constant.
- As your additional monthly bills come in make sure to individually add those payments to your system.
- Opt into automatic reminders from your bank for when bill payments are due and then make sure all the payments are scheduled to arrive by the appropriate due date submitted to you by the creditors.
- Working directly with your credit card providers to stagger your bill dates to work with your pay schedule.
- Consider when your paychecks clear and when your bills are due. By speaking with your credit card company, they can switch your credit card payment due date to coincide with your pay check dates, thus allowing you the ability to better manage your monthly expenses.
It is important when managing multiple credit cards to never spend more more than you can pay when using them. Say you want to purchase a new flat screen TV and a vacation at the same time, why not choose one over the other? Then pay off one charge and then when that debt is clear charge the next. This kind of prudent behavior with shopping and bill paying will help prove your creditworthiness to lenders, as well as keep your cards in good standing to get all the rewards you have earned.
