Can Store Credit Cards Be Use For Good?

Department store credit cards are one of the worst credit cards
you can have in your wallet. The interest rates are 24% and higher.
But the stores always offer great sales if you have one. JcPenney
and Kohl’s for example will always ask me if I want to save 20%
by opening a charge card. I always tell them NO. They way I see it,
I don’t want more debt; and that extra 20% off the shirt I am buying
will ultimately cost me 100% more by the time I pay off the credit
card balance. Not quite a great deal after all.

But being the bargain hunter I am, I got to thinking, There must be
a way I can get those store card special discounts and NOT get
my self into debt with them. Ya know what? There is! I will explain
how you can get all the special coupons and discounts that one
gets with department store credit cards without racking up any
more debt. Can this really be done? It can, but it takes a real
commitment and the ability to know yourself and your weaknesses.

The steps are as follows:
1) Scour the sale ads. See if there are any specials and/or
coupons. If you find something you are in need of from your
favorite store,(we’ll use JcPenney for this example) go shopping.
2) So let’s say you saw in the circular that Levi jeans were on sale;
buy one get one for $1. They also have a $10 off a $50 purchase.
Maybe you are dong back to school shopping for the kids. Levi’s
run anywhere from $35-$55 per pair. You have to get 2 pairs to get
the savings. So you buy 2 pairs, which on sale cost you $36 ($35
for the first pair + $1 for the second). You also see that Penney’s
has graphic tees on sale for $9.99 each (regularly $17.99). You
find one you like. Ok…lets add things up again. $36 + $ 9.99 =
$45.99. Remember, we can get $10 off a $50 purchase. So…let
see. Maybe your son needs some socks or your daughter a pair of
earrings. Try to spend as close to the $4.01 as you can. Great!
Earrings for $4.99, marked down from $9.99. Subtotal $45.99 +
$4.99= $50.98.
3) Take your items to the cashier, she rings it all up $50.98 (plus
tax, of course…unless you shop on one of the tax free days)
4) Hand her your $10 off $50 coupon. We are down to $40.98.
5) She asks you if you have a JcPenney’s credit card, if not, would
you like to apply for one and save $20 on today’s purchase.
6) Ok…here’s the fun part. You say, “Why, yes I would.”
Hint: Even if you are declined you still get the % off in most
cases.

7) Once application is done. Cashier will apply discount. If your approval goes through you DON’T have to use
the card to pay. So DON’T. Let’s recalculate your total now. $40.98 - 20% (8.20)=$32.78 (plus tax)
8) Pay with cash or your debit card.
*NOTE: If you shop JcPenney’s a lot, don’t forget to go online prior to shopping and sign up for jcprewards.
Earn extra savings whenever you shop. Get all the details here.

Let’s summarize…you purchased 2 pairs of Levi Jeans (reg. retail total $60 for both), 1 graphic tee (reg.
retail $17.99), 1 pair of earrings (reg. retail price $9.99). The grand total without any savings applied would be
$87.99.
You paid only $32.78! Wow, a savings of $55.20! Now that’s what I call a deal.

The steps we just went through were for the initial sign up of the department store credit card. The next steps
are the hardest. It takes real discipline. You must know yourself. If you can’t resist using a credit card on a
whim, DON'T even apply for the card. If you can resist temptation, the following steps are for you.

Shopping trip #2 and beyond:
1) If there is a special savings when you use your department store card, make a purchase ONLY if you have
the CASH(or your debit card) in hand. If you don’t. Stop right there. Don’t go to the store.
2) Ok, with cash in hand and department store credit card in hand, once again, look through the weekly
specials ad and see if what you need is on sale. If it is great! You can combine that sale price with whatever
special they are offering for “card holders only”.
3) Take your items to cashier, use store credit card to get savings and pay for items(remember ONLY if you
have cash in hand…you will be using it soon).
4) After the sale is complete, take your receipt, credit card and cash (or debit card) to customer service
department. You are going to make a payment on your credit card for the exact amount that you just charged.
So if you purchases came up to $69.38, you are going to pay $69.38 on your bill. Being that transactions
sometimes take a couple of days to show up, your payment may actually appear on your statement first and
then the purchases.
*If the customer service department doesn’t accept credit card payments, register you card online and pay
that way with your debit card as soon as you get home! You should verify if customer service accepts
payments at store prior to applying for the card in the first place.

So what have we just done? We used our high interest rate department store credit card to save a percentage
(as determined by store…usually in the form of coupons or advertised specials) off our total cost. Then we
incurred ZERO interest as we paid off the credit card immediately. We therefore have NO debt on that card.

The moral of this story is YES! Virginia, you can have a department store credit card and NOT incur debt on it.
Remember, if you don’t think you will be able to control impulse buying when you don’t have the cash to pay for
it, DON’T use this method to save cash. Because in the long run it will cost a fortune.

**One side note, is that this may also impact your credit score. Depending on how things stand at present, it
may actually improve your score. To learn more about the credit scores and how they work, click here.**

Can Department Store Credit Cards Actually
Be Used for Good?