I’ve got plenty of money to pay my bills each month, but would it be better to do them with a credit card?

A Reddit user is trying to decide if he should use a credit card to pay his bills or not.

He explained that he has ample money to pay for all his “typical bills,” including his mortgage, auto insurance, phone, Internet, gas, food, and electric bills. He’s thinking about getting a credit card and signing up to automatically charge all these bills on that card each month — then paying off the card in full. This would simplify his financial management since he’d be making one payment instead of many. It would also open up the door for him to earn rewards. 

So, is that a good idea, or should he stick with the status quo and keep paying each account separately and not using a card at all?

Using a card to cover the bills is a great idea — but it’s not always feasible

First things first: it is definitely a good idea for this Redditor to start paying as much as he can on a card. Since he has indicated he has “plenty of money” to pay his bills in full, it’s very unlikely that signing up for a card is suddenly going to make him behave in a financially irresponsible way. So, since he’s not going to carry a balance, there’s no real downside and there’s a lot of upside to using the card.

Not only will it be more convenient for him to just charge as much as he can, but if he picks the right cashback card, all of the bills he has to pay are going to get a little bit cheaper since he’ll be getting at least a percentage or two back of what he spends. If he’s charging say, $3,000 per month, then he would be able to get $60 coming back to him every month or a whopping $720 every year with no downside. 

However, the unfortunate reality is that while the Redditor’s plan is a good one, he’s going to have to tweak it a little bit. He can probably pay most of his bills and he can definitely pay for things like gas and food on his card. But, he’s very unlikely to be able to pay certain bills like his mortgage. That’s because some types of payments have to be made from a bank account or via check, as the companies don’t take credit cards. 

Now, this doesn’t mean the Redditor’s plan is a bad one. He can and should switch to the card as his payment method whenever possible. It does mean he can’t really just make one payment a month to take care of everything. He will need to set up his automatic credit card payment and probably another automatic payment for his mortgage and maybe for some utility providers that don’t accept cards either. 

Credit cards can be a great tool if used responsibly

If you can use your card responsibly — as this Redditor is talking about doing — credit cards can be an awesome tool. Not only can you earn rewards and simplify your finances, but you can also build your credit by charging items each month and paying them off in full. You’ll have a record of your transactions too, and can gain access to great borrower benefits such as extended warranties or return protection on some cards, as well as strong fraud protections. 

If you aren’t using a card, check out the available cashback cards today to find one with a good rewards program and apply so you don’t miss out on all the benefits these cards can offer.  Then, consider following the lead of this Reddit user and paying as many bills as you can with it. When you start to build up a big rewards balance, you’ll be glad you did.