This was published in Personal Money's April issue. It will be slightly different in the published version of course..the editor must have made some fine tuning.
How did this come about? Well, I remember it was after I wrote about what I did with my credit cards during one of my bigger purchase, a writer from Personal Money emailed to ask if I'm interested to rewrite a similar topic and submit to be published in a column - I think the column is called In My Opinion, meant for the public to write in to share their ..opinions on how they manage their financial related matters.
So..here it is !
Oh..they even sent a professional photographer to take a profile pic of me for the column..but I'm not gonna post it here :)
In December, I had no choice but to hold on to paying for quite a number of items that I carefully chose as Christmas gifts just because I didn't have the right credit card with me. Well, I did have a choice, which is to pay using the only card I had with me at that moment and not enjoying any discounts.
I was quite impressed that this bookstore has a good practice by telling customers about available payment options to get better deals. Many outlets do not. What’s the point of participating in merchant offers programmes when you don’t inform your customers about it, I wonder.
So, anyway, back to my purchase, I was told that a particular card that I left at home offered a 10% discount on all items when the total purchase hits RM90. I decided to hold purchase and returned a week later to another outlet in a different mall. Why another outlet? Cos ' I wanted to check out decorations of another mall. That's killing two birds with one stone! Plus, I'd always choose getting presents from bookstores. Why? Cos I can get tax rebates!
I ended up spending an hour or so short listing and choosing gifts all over again because about half of what I chose in the first outlet weren't available in the second outlet. Not a big deal to me since it wasn’t about getting the same items anyway, it was about getting a better deal, I saved a total of RM17.01. Not much?
Depends how one sees it. I’d think the savings was a nett gain, as it wasn't an out of the way trip, it was a Friday and I made arrangement to have dinner there anyway. In a way, the savings paid for dinner! To me, it’s not about the amount, it is about our attitude, our mindset.
On one occasion it may be only RM17 but on other occasions it may lead to greater savings.
Just like when a friend casually asked if I have a credit card from this particular bank. She jumped in excitement when I said Yes. Why? Because the card entitles her to get a 15% discount on a birthday cake she ordered for her sons' birthday. As that was the only day I was available, she "begged" me to drive all the way to Sunway (from Mid Valley) to swipe my card for her. It was 6pm in the evening! Sigh ~ things we do to get savings. She saved about RM67 from the RM450 cake. If she didn’t ask she would have to pay RM450!
Well, I did have to drive a distance but it was a favour I didn't mind doing for a dear friend. It's good food for the soul to be able to do something nice for someone.
Do all these make sense to you? Going a little bit out of the way to get some savings by making full use what your credit cards entitlement?
Some may seem small and unattractive but it really depends on how one looks at the picture, similar to the phrase that says "is the cup half empty or half full?"
For instance, I went out of the way applying for additional credit limit just so I can use this particular card for a kitchen cabinet and wardrobe purchase to enjoy their cash back offer. I got back RM120 hard cash. One can either say: “RM120 is so little, the whole bill was over ten thousand, what's RM120?” Alternatively, I'd like to see it as: I can use RM120 for a good meal with my family, why not! Or RM120, that's my one month's gym membership fee. Why not?
It's not about being kiasu, it's about having the right mindset, spending wisely and making the best out of what we have and mind you, we paid for the cards. And, it's money, hard earned money.
Some of you may argue that it is not worthwhile keeping too many cards when we have to pay RM50 annual service tax for each. I had that in mind too.
Well, at the end of the day, it’s all about learning to be smart consumers. First, make sure that the cards that you are planning to keep are worth keeping i.e. they have regular and good programmes. Diligent consumers will probably have a spreadsheet with summaries and calculations! Otherwise, it’s quite easy, just keep your eyes, ears open and be sensitive and observant to advertisements.
Hint : Normally the popular ones have less attractive offers.
After short listing one or two that are worth keeping, cancel the rest. Cancelling cards can be another ordeal especially when the card has many auto debits linked to it i.e. utility, insurance, charity donations, etc. I’m in the middle of sorting out one! It’s painful.
The best solution is of course to keep only one card, load all your purchases into it, maximise the points and use the points to offset the RM50 tax. Oh, how I wish life is so simple.
I need to keep Card A due to some outstanding instalments and it always offers very good cash back deals. Card B gives me 0.5% instant rebate on all purchases, better than nothing right? Card C was my main card, it has numerous auto debit linked to it, but it has been pretty useless in terms offers and discounts – I think I shall dump this.
Do you have the same problems? How many cards do you keep? And do you believe in having a few cards to enjoy different kinds of discounts and offers?
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