Money Management

Want to avoid spending more than necessary when shopping online? Make sure you activate credit card offer discounts. Find out how to save more. 

Now that the holiday season is upon us, you’re probably doing some holiday shopping. Many people purchase gifts for their friends and family this time of year. While saving money by shopping holiday sales is possible, that’s not the only way to land a deal while spoiling your loved ones.

Maximizing your savings opportunities as you shop this holiday season can allow you to keep more money in your checking account. If you usually pay for your purchases with credit cards, you could miss out on additional savings. Discover how to save even more money as you shop.

Don’t ignore money-saving credit card offers

Some credit card issuers have offers or deal programs available to cardholders. You can activate these special offers through your online account to save money when you shop. Each program features offers from various popular retailers.

Most offers provide a discount as a statement credit to your credit card once you activate and make an eligible purchase with a participating retailer. While you won’t get a direct discount through the retailer, you’ll get a statement credit, which can reduce your credit card bill.

What programs should you use? Here are two programs to consider using: Chase cardholders can use the Chase Offers program to save money when making eligible purchases. American Express also has a program called Amex Offers.

You must activate offers and meet the offer terms to qualify for a statement credit. If you don’t activate an offer, you’ll miss out. You can browse available offers by logging into your online account through the credit card issuer’s website or mobile app. Reviewing these offers every so often is worthwhile, because they can change frequently. Don’t ignore these programs if you like getting a deal when you shop.

Do this before you make a purchase

You’re ahead of the game if you’re already using rewards credit cards. These credit cards provide an excellent way to earn rewards when you make everyday purchases. But ensure you’re not missing out on additional ways to save money and earn more rewards.

It’s a good idea to take a few extra steps before you make your next purchase — especially if you’re planning to buy a costly item. Otherwise, you may spend more money than necessary or miss out on the chance to earn extra rewards. Here are some steps to take before you shop:

Review current credit card offers: Activate any offers for retailers you may shop with in the coming weeks. Check current offers before buying a pricey item because you don’t want to miss out on the chance to save more money. Look for coupon codes: You could get a bigger discount online by entering an active coupon code at checkout. You can use one of the best coupon apps to find active promo codes. Why pay more than necessary if you can avoid it? Use cash back apps: Don’t forget to use cash back apps to earn cash back rewards. When you activate offers, and make eligible purchases, you can get rewarded with real cash using cash back apps like Rakuten. It’s easy to earn cash when you shop.

Every time you save money, it adds up and impacts your wallet. Check out our free personal finance resources to discover additional ways to save money and earn rewards.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.American Express is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Discover Financial Services is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Natasha Gabrielle has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool recommends Discover Financial Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Bank account bonuses are a valuable benefit. Watch out for these common reasons a bank could deny your bonus so you know what not to do. 

Not everybody knows about this, but it’s possible to make a surprising amount of money by getting a new bank account. Quite a few bank bonuses are worth hundreds of dollars. I once made over $1,000 in a year just from earning bank account bonuses.

It’s always nice to make extra cash, especially when there’s hardly any work involved. But there are rules involved for earning bonuses with bank accounts. It would be frustrating to not receive a bonus because of something in the terms you missed. To avoid that, it’s important to know the most common reasons a bank could deny your new account bonus.

1. The bonus offer wasn’t attached to your application

Bank account bonuses normally aren’t available to everyone who opens an account. They’re special offers, and to qualify, you need to either:

Open the account through a special linkEnter a promotional code while applying for the account

Let’s say you see a bank bonus advertised with a link to open an account. If you go to the bank’s website yourself to open an account, without using the link, the bonus offer likely won’t be attached to your application.

You may be able to contact the bank in this situation to get the bonus. It’s always worth a try, and banks will sometimes help you out. But if you use the right link or promotional code, you won’t have this problem in the first place.

2. You didn’t complete all the requirements

Every bank bonus has requirements you need to fulfill to earn it. Here are a few examples:

Deposit a minimum amount of new money, such as $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000 (new money means funds you had outside the bank — if you already have another account with the bank, transfers from that account likely won’t count toward the deposit requirement)Receive a direct deposit of any amount, or receive a minimum amount of direct deposits, such as $1,000 or $5,000Complete a minimum number of qualifying activities, such as receiving deposits and using your account’s debit card

Make sure to read the requirements carefully, so you know exactly what you need to do. These usually aren’t too complicated, but the details matter.

3. You didn’t maintain the balance long enough

Many bank bonuses have deposit requirements. These bonuses usually also require that you maintain the deposit for a certain amount of time, such as 90 days.

Let’s say a bonus offer requires that you deposit at least $5,000 into your new account. You probably can’t just deposit $5,000, and then immediately withdraw it. The bank likely has a condition that you also need to maintain a $5,000 balance for a minimum amount of time.

4. You closed the account too soon

Another condition banks often have to protect themselves is early account termination fees. Banks don’t want clients who are going to take the money and run.

An early account termination fee normally states that you forfeit your bonus if you close your account within six months or one year of account opening. If there’s still money in the account, the bank will deduct the bonus from your remaining balance. If not, your account will have a negative balance, and the bank will bill you for it.

5. You already earned the bonus before

You can earn some bank bonuses multiple times. That even includes new account bonuses, if you’ve closed your previous account and enough time has passed. But once again, most banks have conditions covering this.

Some banks won’t allow you to earn the same new account bonus more than once. Or, there may be a formal waiting period. For example, the terms may state that you can only earn a bonus once every two years, at most. Note that these rules generally only apply to the same type of account. For example, if you previously got a checking account bonus with a bank, you could still likely qualify for a bonus on one of its savings accounts. Check the terms to verify this, though.

If you follow all the rules, you shouldn’t have any trouble earning a bank account bonus. Just make sure to dot your i’s and cross your t’s, so there’s no reason for the bank to deny it.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Being in debt is never cheap. Discover how changes to the federal funds rate could impact your credit card payments next year. 

We’re seeing higher interest rates on loans of all types these days, but at least with a personal loan or a home equity loan, you’re signing on to pay a fixed interest rate on the money you borrow (meaning your payments will be the same and you’re not running a risk of seeing them spike and become unaffordable). The same cannot be said of variable-interest debt like that on a credit card, however. Right now is a particularly bad time to have credit card debt.

If you have revolving balances on your credit cards, you might be wondering if your debt will get cheaper in 2024. It certainly could, in terms of your credit card’s APR. But even if we see lower interest rates thanks to the actions of the Federal Reserve, having credit card debt is never really affordable. Let’s take a closer look to see why.

Your payments could get cheaper if the Fed lowers rates

As of this writing, the average credit card APR is 27.80%, according to Forbes. Contrast that with data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which found an average credit card APR of 19.07% just a year ago in November 2022. What accounts for this spike? We have the Federal Reserve to thank.

The Federal Reserve sets the benchmark interest rate (also known as the federal funds rate), and this is the rate at which banks lend money to each other. It also impacts consumer borrowing rates — if banks have to pay more, you have to pay more to borrow from them.

Between last year and this year, we’ve seen 11 rate hikes, and the federal funds rate is at its highest level in four decades. Rate hikes are the Federal Reserve’s way to cope with inflation, which also soared last year. If borrowing money is more expensive, fewer people will borrow and spend beyond their means, which should ease inflation.

Rates have remained at the same level since July 2023, however. The Federal Reserve elected not to raise rates at its last two meetings. It still has one more meeting in 2023, and a full slate for next year. It’s conceivable that it will start lowering the federal funds rate in the near future, perhaps in 2024. If this happens, then your credit card’s APR could be lowered and your payments could end up cheaper as a result.

Having credit card debt is still expensive

It’s important to note that it’s never really a good time to have high-interest debt. Credit cards make it easy to spend beyond your means, and once you’re in debt, it can take a long time to climb out, especially if you’re only making the minimum payments owed on your cards.

If you’re wondering about the cost of your debt in 2024 or beyond, it’s a sign that it’s time to start making moves to pay off your debt and be done with it. Here’s what to focus on.

Make a plan

You have options to deal with your debt. The debt snowball is one method — you make minimum payments on all but your lowest balance and aim to send as much money as you can to that debt, paying it off quickly. I used this technique in 2022, and it went much faster than I expected, perhaps due to the high level of motivation I found from knocking out my smallest balances first.

The debt avalanche is another method you could try, and it’ll save you more money than snowballing your debt. In this technique, you focus on paying off your highest-interest debt first, rather than your smallest balance.

You can’t budget your way out of this

If you don’t have a lot of extra income to send toward your credit cards, you will likely have far more success increasing your income than trying to cut all the fun out of your life. See if you can get a raise at your main job, or pick up a side hustle. Extra earnings aren’t already a part of your budget, so you can send all the money you make from your side gig to your debt.

Consider consolidating your debt

If you feel confident that you can drill down and pay off your debt in a set period, you might want to consolidate it. One way to do this is via a debt consolidation loan, which will give you set payments over a period of time (usually two to seven years).

If you have good credit, another option is to apply for a balance transfer credit card. You’ll have to pay a small balance transfer fee (often 3% to 5%), but once your old balances are moved to the new card, you could have as long as 21 months with 0% APR. If you divide your balances owed by the number of months you have at 0%, you’ll know how much to pay per month to be free of debt.

Credit card debt is never cheap, regardless of what the Federal Reserve is up to. Focus on the above moves to get clear of your credit card debt once and for all.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Spending a lot of money this holiday season? Read on to learn about one payment option it’s best to say no to. 

At this point, many consumers are deep in the throes of holiday shopping. And if you still have a number of items to purchase in the coming weeks, you may be wondering how you’re going to pay for everything.

You may be inclined to swipe a credit card so you can rack up rewards on your purchases. But as you go from store to store, you may be tempted by offers for “buy now, pay later” plans, or BNPL plans.

BNPL agreements are expected to generate $17 billion in online holiday spending this year, according to Adobe Analytics as reported by USA Today. Plus, 1 in 5 Americans expect to use a BNPL plan to pay for holiday gifts. But while a BNPL plan might seem like a great way to spread out payments for your holiday purchases, going this route could end up being quite disastrous.

Why you shouldn’t rush to sign up for a BNPL plan

The option to spread out your payments over several months without automatically accruing interest might seem appealing, which explains why consumers tend to be drawn to BNPL plans. With a credit card, by contrast, if you don’t pay off your balance in full by the payment due date, you start racking up interest immediately. The only exception to this is if you have a 0% introductory APR on your card.

But while there may not be obvious fees associated with a BNPL plan, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. You should know that if you fail to make your scheduled payments under one of these agreements, you can face costly penalties as well as interest. But that’s not the only negative consequence that might ensue.

It’s common practice for credit card companies to report delinquent payments to the credit bureaus, and BNPL plan companies can do the same. So if you sign up for one of these agreements and can’t make your payments on time, it could result in a major hit to your credit score. That could, in turn, make it difficult to qualify for a new credit card or personal loan.

Steer clear of BNPL unless you fall into this category

Generally speaking, BNPL plans can be more trouble than they’re worth, so you’re better off avoiding them this holiday season.

There is, however, an exception. Right now, savings accounts are paying very generously. If you have money in the bank that you want to keep there as long as possible to earn interest, then it could make sense to sign up for a BNPL plan.

That way, you don’t have to part with as large a sum of money at once, but you also know that you have the money to cover 100% of your purchase right there in the bank. In that case, you’re not really taking such a risk, because you could conceivably just withdraw that cash on the spot and buy what you want instead. And even then, you’re still potentially dealing with a lot of hassle (like having to keep track of when payments are due) to earn what could be a small amount of interest.

But otherwise, proceed with caution if you’re considering signing up for a BNPL plan. You don’t want to land in a situation where a seemingly no-cost option for financing purchases ends up being far more expensive and damaging than expected.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until 2025

If you’re using the wrong credit or debit card, it could be costing you serious money. Our experts love this top pick, which features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, an insane cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee.

In fact, this card is so good that our experts even use it personally. Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

Read our free review

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

 Read More