If you are reading this blog, there's a good reason. You want to learn how to be frugal or in other words save money! One of the best ways to save money is unfortunately often forgotten. Did you know that consumers who have great credit scores are able to live on a substantially less amount of money than those with poor credit scores? The fact of the matter is, if you really want to live a frugal lifestyle and start saving money, the first place you should start is by getting and maintaining good credit scores! Want to know how good credit scores help you to save money? Here's a few of the several things that you can do to save money with good scores...
Pay Lower Interest Rates On Loans
The simple fact is, the United States economy is built around debt. Therefore, the vast majority of us have one debt or another. If you have great credit scores, you will get a discount on any loan that you get in a sense. This is because, on average those who have good credit scores pay a substantially lower interest rate on loans than those who have poor or fair credit. This means that if you buy a house on a mortgage, with good credit, you will pay thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars less in interest over the term of your debt than you would if you bought a house on fair credit. The same scalable savings applies to any other loan you may have as well.
Get More Cash Back On Your Credit Card Purchases
Although, just about every credit card comes with rewards these days. Those that offer higher value rewards like high amounts of cash back generally require good credit scores to be approved. Therefore, if you have poor credit and are not doing anything about it, you could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars in credit card rewards!
Pay Less At The Pump
There are few things in this world that I dislike as much as getting a tooth pulled. With that said, going to the gas station is one of them and, I know I'm not alone. Every time I get there, it seems like the price went up 10 cents since the last time. But, I have found that most gas stations promote a credit card. One that allows you to save 5 or 10 cents a gallon at the pump. By taking advantage of these offers and paying your balance off within the grace period, you can save quite a bit of money every year in gas! However, again, to be approved for most of them, you have to have good credit scores.
Get A Better Salary
These days, the high paying job market is a very competitive one. To qualify for a great career, you will have to meet several different requirements. We all know, education and experience tend to be overwhelming factors. However, studies suggest that along with these factors, credit scores are being taken into account by larger companies with high paying openings. Therefore, having a good credit score can help you to make more money. That is, if you meet all other requirements and interview well for the position you apply for.
This article was written by Joshua Rodriguez, proud owner and founder of www.CNAFinance.com and avid personal finance journalist. Click here to read his most recent article on this topic. Join the personal finance conversation on Google+ or facebook!
Image thanks to andres rueda on Flickr.
This is a new twist! I like it. I think people will be empowered to live below their means to obtain a better credit score.
Thanks Vivian! I'm glad you enjoy my article and I truly hope it does empower people to live below their means and build their credit!
Thanks for the article. I totally agree that credit scores can help people save money on a variety of things. I think we've taught so many people to focus on credit scores simply for loans or interest rate sakes.
Better credit scores as you mention impact us in many ways: 1) no need to put downpayment on a cell phone or utilities 2) smaller down payment for an apartment 3) taking advantage of 0% offers 4) lower auto insurance premiums. The list can go on and on.
Thanks The Phroogie Jason for your kind words. I couldn't agree more with your comment!