3 Smart Credit Card Strategies to Maximize Savings This Holiday Season.

The holiday season is filled with joy, festive meals, and cherished family gatherings—but it often comes with higher expenses. Thankfully, choosing the right credit card can unlock significant savings. With years of experience in maximizing credit card rewards and discounts, I’ve made credit cards a cornerstone of my holiday shopping strategy.

Here are my top tips for saving on your holiday expenses.

How to Leverage Your Credit Card for Gift Shopping

First, ensure you have a credit card that rewards you for the purchases you plan to make.  Once you have that sorted, explore the additional savings and benefits your card may provide.

Activate Bonus Promotions

If your card features rotating bonus categories, don’t forget to activate those offers.

Utilize Cardholder Benefits

When shopping for gifts, particularly electronics, seek out credit cards that provide perks like extended warranty coverage and protection against theft or damage. These benefits can safeguard your purchases and potentially reimburse you in certain situations.

Select the Best Redemption Option

The holiday season is an excellent opportunity to redeem your rewards to help manage your spending. Just be mindful to choose the most valuable redemption options. For instance, redeeming points for cash back at 1 cent each is preferable to getting only 0.8 cents for purchases at retailers like Amazon.com.

How to prevent overspending

Getting caught up in the holiday excitement can lead to overspending on gifts. To ensure you don’t start the new year with debt, create a sensible budget for your gifts and stick to it. Keep in mind that thoughtful, well-researched gifts that reflect your understanding of the recipient often hold more value than pricey, generic options.

Top 10 Low-Interest Credit Cards for December 2024

Carrying a balance on a credit card with a low APR is essential to minimize high interest charges. According to the Federal Reserve, the average APR for credit cards is 15.13%, rising to 16.65% for accounts with interest. For example, with a 17% APR and a $1,000 balance, paying just $20 monthly would take over seven years to pay off and cost $794 in interest—nearly doubling your original balance.

While some cards offer rewards, we focused on minimizing interest when choosing the best options. Finance Monthly reviews the top 10 lowest-interest credit cards for December to help you save on interest while enjoying other perks.

Keep in mind, your credit score will impact the rate you qualify for.