Credit Cards: How to maximise your interest free credit period
I am a very careful spender because money is so hard to earn and so easy to spend! More so in these recent times which have seen most of us tightening our belts.
I thought I’d offer a little tip on how I maximise the use of my credit cards’ interest free credit period.
The next time you get your credit card bill, look at the date the statement was issued. Let’s say its June 11. This bill will be for all your credit card charges in the month of May until 11 June.
Now, take notice of the due date for payment. This is usually about 20 days after the date the statement is printed and sent out to you. So, in our example, the due date for payment will be July 1.
There are 2 things to bear in mind:-
(1) The date the statement is issued is fixed. It might differ by one or two days but its usually about there.
(2) The due date for payment is also relatively fixed differing only by a day or two.
Therefore, the date of issue of the credit card bill is your cut off date for billing.
Therefore, in our example, if you make a purchase after 11 June you will fall into the next billing cycle which will be issued only on 11 July and due for payment on 1 August. This effectively gives you nearly 2 whole months of interest free credit!
What I do is note all my cut off dates for my credit card bills and make my purchases accordingly. iF I have a big purchase to make, I do it this way because I then then up with 2 pay checks to cover my purchase. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself and see! 
It takes a while to get a grip of the system but once you do, its easy to maximise the interest free period of your credit card. Of course, this only works if you pay off your total outstanding every month. If not, you’re back to paying interest from day one! There are benefits to paying off your bill every month - you save on interest rates too. But I’ll write about it another day
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I beg to differ with what you wrote. You maybe billed in the latter month but the interest after the 20 days of free interest will be included into that bill.
If those banks states 20 days of interest free, it will be 20 days , no more and no less.
Those banks are very meticulous, they have computers to calculate the interest for each item you swipe on a particular date and calculate the interest after the 20 days of free interest is over. You only qualify for the 20 days of free interest if you pay all your last month’s debt.(Applicable in Malaysia)
Get a Diners club charge card. You get 55 days interest free before you pay up.
The statement date is 30th and the due date is 25th of the preceding month. If you swipe on the 1st of Sep. you only have to pay on 25th Oct. This is a preferred mode.
@Laura1318: Thanks for your thoughts! I agree. After 20 days interest free you will be charged interest. Which is why it is important to pay the bill on time on or before the due date. That way, you maximise your interest free period. This technique has worked for me for years and I’ve never been charged interest unless I pay after the due date which is usually my own fault anyway.
I fear credit cards, especially credit cards from stores….that is until I went shopping at a Von Maur store while visiting family. I dont have a Von Maur store where I live. So when they tried to get me to sign up for one I was hesitant. Then they proceeded to tell me that it is interest free…and its what I’ve heard before…so I questioned them on this. Come to find out it is interest free forever, no late fees forever, and they pay for all shipping even if its a $5 shirt. Its an upper scale store….very nice, and the associates will reserve time to do shopping for me and ship it off to me. And when the holidays arrived I wanted to do all my shopping there, get it over with. My bill was just over $800. The associate Lynn then offered me a 10 month contract to reduce my payments in half. Luckily I was in town to recieve that contract, so rather than having a $160 monthly bill, it was $80. It is now my favorite store…..I go to town and do major shopping in person to recieve the contract, and purchase smaller amounts over the phone. I love that store. Plus they carry high end lines…from make-up, to handbags, to shoes and clothing. Along with knick knacks, and kids clothes…..I am in heaven there. Oh and they will package and wrap gifts for you, I wish every store offered this.
Further to my method of using the Diner’s card. You not only enjoy 55 days of interest free from Diners and if you use Ambank credit card, you can go online and pay your Diner’s bill and get a further 20 days of free interest ,making it a total or 75 days of free interest!!!!
This is on condition you do not have any unpaid balance from last month. This option beats every type of credit cards in the market..LOL!
Further , the annual fee is only Rm35 and can be easily waived if you swipe 3x a month.
For those who settle all their balances each month , they should consider having this card. This is not a credit card but a charge card. You have to pay all when the statement arrived. If you cannot settle all, you will be charged interest and late payment charges.