But, much to my surprise, I noticed that my interest payment was around the same as what I received just months before the recent withdrawal. Confused, I searched for answers. Within seconds I realized that, once again, the interest accrual rate had increased. Since my money was earning at a higher rate, my interest payments were still a sizeable amount.
I consider this a huge win in the game of money & life. Years ago, I read a book that encouraged its readers to look at making money as a game. I have a natural competitive spirit so I gladly took on this philosophy. So far, I've been playing the game pretty conservatively but I'm still being rewarded. Eventually, I hope to make bigger moves. But until then, I'd like to share a couple of money rules that I follow which has consistently paid off.
Great Credit Allows You Access to Greater Abundance.
I haven't touched on the topic of having good credit in the past. But, honestly, a favorable credit score is a major factor in how much money you'll have access to over the course of your life. The way the system is set up, a person with great credit will spend less money versus the individual who with a low score.
If you have a decent credit score, you'll enjoy lower interest rates every time you borrow money. Lower interest rates mean more cash in your pocket. Over the course of time, someone who has a lower score will be punished by having to pay more to borrow the same amount of money as a person who's higher on the credit scale. I don't want to be punished and have to pay more money than the next guy.
Do you?
When it comes to using credit cards, my philosophy is this: "either you win or they win."
Here's what I mean by this. You get a credit card and charge $1000 on the card over the course of the billing period. At the end of the billing period, you receive a bill for $1000.00. You check your bank account and notice that you don't have $1000.00 to pay the charges, so you make a minimum payment of $50.00. You've just lost. Now, you're paying more money on purchases that you barely remember making. The more minimum payments you make, the more money you pay over the course of time. If you added the cost of interest to the original price tag, you probably wouldn't pay it. But now, you're agreeing to pay jacked up prices simply because paying in smaller increments seems more convenient.
I don't like losing, so I decided to play the credit card game to win. This means paying the balance in full every single month and avoiding interest at all costs. Pay the $1000.00 and be done with it. If you don't have a $1000.00, take it as a sign that you're spending more than necessary and scale back. Buying a bunch of stuff and not having the money to pay for it isn't abundance. Abundance means having more than enough money to take care of all your needs. I believe that paying off your balance every month will affect your abundance energy. Having a bunch of debt looming over you will not make you feel abundant no matter how much stuff you own. If you're cash strapped, you can leverage some zero interest offers as a way of working the system. Zero interest offers only work if you pay the balance in full before the deadline. Winning is the only option.
My strategy for the credit card game involves charging daily expenses and paying them off in full each month. The payoff for my gameplay comes in the form of reward points. Those points allow me to enjoy international travel at absolutely no cost. This is a savings of thousands. It's like winning a luxury vacation getaway for doing nothing. All I did was play the game.
#winning
The other game that I love to play is making passive income on my savings. While I place all of my purchases on a high reward earning credit card, I allow my cash to post up and earn interest. Every month, I receive a deposit simply for having money in a high earning account. This is thee definition of passive income. If you still haven't opened up your high yield savings account yet, you're essentially turning down access to free money. These high-interest savings accounts offer excellent motivation to help you save money. The more you have saved, the bigger your interest payment.
To recap, stop paying high interest on your credit cards. Start earning high-interest payouts instead!
The next level of the game is one I wish to play in the coming years. It's the game where you place your money into a system that generates handsome returns. I did this years ago when I decided to invest in launching my own business. I took money from my paycheck and leveraged it towards something that can continue to generate greater income. So far, so good.
It's simple, once you understand that money operates within a system, you have to play to win. All it takes is a few changes in your habits to alter the course of your financial future.
This post is so helpful! I love thinking of it as a game. My biggest downfall is always taking some money out of my savings each month which adds up! I need to make this into a game of challenging myself not to, add adding money to my savings rather than taking!
ReplyDeleteChloe X http://chloelxuise.com
Hey Chloe! One thing that helped me was putting a name to my savings account (like dream car or something like that). Every time I looked at the balance, I was reminded that the money had a greater purpose.
DeleteGreat article! I've been using Marcus by Goldman Sachs as my savings account because every month they give 2.9% interest on the money I have in that account.
ReplyDeleteI have a question, what credit card are you using that gives you rewards? I'm 21yrs old and have no credit so far, so I want to start building some now.
Wow that's a great return rate! I might have to check that out. I use American Express card to accumulate points. It's a great card if you plan on paying it off each month. Since you're just starting out, I suggest maybe starting with one of the commercial cards (from your bank or Visa/Mastercard). Use it responsibly for a year or two, then apply to American Express for the bigger reward potential.
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