{"id":31653,"date":"2025-04-17T04:15:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T11:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=31653"},"modified":"2025-03-28T13:51:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T20:51:42","slug":"what-is-a-credit-card-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id31653-what-is-a-credit-card-3.html","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Credit Card?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-31654\" src=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/credit-card-basics.jpg\" alt=\"what is a credit card\" width=\"395\" height=\"254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/credit-card-basics.jpg 640w, https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/credit-card-basics-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/credit-card-basics-50x32.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 395px) 100vw, 395px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>What is a credit card? They&#8217;re a tool that allows people to borrow money from their bank or a financial institution for the purchase of consumer goods and services. Because almost all businesses accept credit cards, there is virtually no limit to what can be bought with them.<\/p>\n<h3>Why you SHOULDN&#8217;T get a credit card:<\/h3>\n<p>While credit cards are convenient, they typically charge high interest rates often upwards of 29%. The good news is, you can avoid those nasty interest charges by paying back all of the money you borrowed within the specified grace period, which is usually 30 days or less. You should avoid getting a credit card if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You have trouble controlling your spending<\/li>\n<li>You <a href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id573-my-ten-commandments-of-personal-finance-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lack the discipline<\/a> required to pay off your bill in full on a monthly basis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Why you SHOULD get a credit card:<\/h3>\n<p>In short, they offer financially responsible folks the following benefits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Convenience<\/strong>. Credit cards eliminate the need to carry cash.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Money management<\/strong>. Monthly statements make it easy to track your expenses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Higher credit scores<\/strong><em>. <\/em>When used responsibly, credit cards can improve your credit score<\/li>\n<li><strong>Monetary and product bonuses.<\/strong> Many cards offer cash, airline miles, free gasoline or other incentives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Other perks.<\/strong> Most companies offer consumer protection, insurance benefits, and extended warranties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><em>(Readers: This is article 1 of my 25 part quick reference series on credit card basics.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"font-size: smaller;\">Photo Credit: GotCredit<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a credit card? They&#8217;re a tool that allows people to borrow money from their bank or a financial institution for the purchase of consumer goods and services. Because almost all businesses accept credit cards, there is virtually no limit to what can be bought with them. Why you SHOULDN&#8217;T get a credit card: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[458,488],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-credit-debt","8":"category-credit-card-basics","9":"pmpro-has-access","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Is a Credit Card?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is a credit card? 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