Brutally Honest Credit Card Tips To Fix Your Mess

love making videos that showcase the “beautiful and feel good” side of credit cards. That’s because it feels great, it gets the emotions running, and it’s also a little bit inspiring. And all of that is great, but, we also need to talk about the things that are not so great, and maybe this will help to ease some of the pressure off of some of you who are watching these videos and feel like you need to match the velocity of some of your favorite credit card content creators or get the exact same credit cards that we have. I know this because I have even felt this pressure myself. So in this video, I may be pretty brutal, but that’s sometimes necessary to give practical tips that can save you from screwing up your sh**.

0:00 - 0:41 - Intro
0:41 - 3:05 - Act Your Age
3:05 - 4:29 - Develop Good Habits
4:29 - 6:39 - Leverage Your Credit
6:39 - 12:35 - Don’t Keep Cards That Don’t Fit Your Lifestyle
12:35 - 15:35 - Don’t Base Your Decisions Solely On What’s Trending In The Credit Card Space
15:35 - 17:46 - Beware of the Overlap Trap
17:46 - 20:39 - Strategically Apply for New Credit Cards

Act Your Age
The first thing you need to know about the credit card game is to ACT YOUR AGE. Now I’m not talking about your age based upon your birth date, but your age based upon your credit history. If you are new to credit, then, you shouldn’t really be looking to open up an Amex Platinum card, or the Chase Sapphire Reserve because both of those credit cards come with a pretty hefty annual fee - with the Amex Platinum at six hundred ninety five dollars and the Chase Sapphire Reserve at five hundred fifty dollars. Now to be honest, if you’re new to credit, not just credit cards, but credit on the whole, then you most likely won’t be approved for any of these credit cards, so that may not be a huge deal. But if you are somehow approved, you’re immediately going to have a charge to your credit card that’s several hundred dollars, and its pretty common for those at the beginning stage to not want to shell out that amount of cash immediately, especially if you’re young, and especially if you’re working an entry level job that doesn’t pay very well.

Develop Good Habits
Early on in the credit card game, your focus should be on developing good habits with using credit cards - Let’s just say that somehow you slip through the cracks and now you’re approved for the Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X, in short, the really expensive credit cards, then, these tools that can be used to bring a positive experience to you, may just be a negative at first, especially if you don’t understand how to extract value from those expensive credit cards. Trying to understand how to extract value, while you’re trying to understand how to use a credit card responsibly in the first place, may be too much too soon for a lot of people at the beginner level. This is why we see credit cards like the Chase Freedom Rise, Capital One Quicksilver, Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card, and dare I say, I’ll even throw in the Apple Card into this mix

Leverage Your Credit
If you’ve had credit cards for several years, and you’ve mastered the ability to be responsible with credit cards, by not carrying a statement balance from month to month, and you built up a great credit score, if your only credit card is some sort of retail store credit card, or you still have that one first pretty good credit card that you’ve opened, then, I’m sorry, you’re probably not following this first tip I gave which is to act your age because there are a lot of credit cards out there that do not have an annual fee, that can bring you a little bit of extra cash through obtaining the welcome offers that are available. Some examples include the Chase Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, Capital One Savor One, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Citi Custom Cash, and Citi Double Cash

Don’t Keep Cards That Don’t Fit Your Lifestyle
Don’t keep cards that don’t fit your lifestyle….if they have an annual fee. I really want to say don’t get cards that don’t fit your lifestyle, but I understand that there’s a strong argument, and its a valid one, that the welcome offer may be worth the sacrifice of getting a card that doesn’t suit you. But what I’m really talking about, once again, are those luxury travel cards and I’m going to pick on the Amex Platinum card once again.

Don’t Base Your Decisions Solely On What’s Trending In The Credit Card Space

Do not base your decisions solely on what’s trending in the credit card YouTube space. Take it from me, don’t make excuses to follow trends in the credit card community just to apply for a new credit card. I try to create videos that match my personality and my strategy, and its hard sometimes to stay true to that because I can see videos topics that work and are trending, and I’d like to jump in on those, but it doesn’t necessarily fit with my personality.

[baconoftheark]

Hey CJ, thanks for the video to clear any issues for the fans.
Your credit card should always match your lifestyle not the reverse.
My girlfriend and I travel internationally once per year, and domestically 0-1 times/year.
It makes sense for me to get the Capital One Venture X. $300 travel credit, travel longues, priority pass, $100 Global entry/TSA precheck won't go to waste.
I don't foresee myself getting another travel card with longue access since I'm happy with the Capital One VentureX/Savor One duo.

[forgottennewsclips]

I’ve been in the comments sections of various YouTubers saying this exact thing. Good job with this video, it really needed to be said

[MattWelterOfficial]

Definitely really really agree with the point of Not Keeping Cards that don't fit your lifestyle. These days, issuers make changes to Cards so frequently that sometimes they become unrecognizable from the Cards that they once were. Definitely really important to make sure that Card Benefits really match closely with organic spending preferences. Great video CJ!

[raymondsrealm]

I do also want to say great job on the video, very informational

[jwng]

1st! A very good video for beginners or veterans of the CC game!

[baringitallwithcandice]

Hey CJ 👋 😊 another good video. Very good points.

[JuanGarcia-hrwf]

Nice video CJ. Great tips. Get the credit card that fits your lifestyle and not the other way around

[MyNameJim]

I love picking on the Amex Platinum!

My Amex trifecta set up includes the Gold, Blue Business Plus, and the Green. I don’t travel enough to justify the Platinum, but enough to justify the Green (Clear + Loungebuddy + broad travel category is more than enough). No need for a gas multiplier because I live in a big city that’s transit focused. I never hear about this trifecta, but it’s amazing.

My two other cards are my fun cards. Chase freedom flex because of the mystery of rotating categories. And the WF Attune for the “no clue what this codes as so fuck it let’s see what the Attune does here”

[soapa]

11:00 Yes it's worth it... IF, you offset the annual fee as much as you can. The Plat AF for the right people, can essentially be completely wiped out, making any additional perks such as lounges completely worth it.

[elitepctech]

All the Amex cards are worth it in the first year due to the welcome bonus. After that, one needs to do calculations.

If one always fly business class, one automatically gets access to that airline's lounge, rendering the Amex Centurion lounge redundant.

[docsays]

Good points all around.

I will say that having the amex business platinum came in handy & not for travel.

I had some unexpected business expenses come up & there was a delay in payment from some of my contractors.

So instead of touching my personal income or investments to cover a business expense i just cashed out 100k MRs @ 1cpp via my amx biz checking account. I know that’s sacrilegious in the travel community but it is a nice “break glass in case of emergency” option only available with the CS or biz platinum.

[flubberghosted]

This is so real, bro! Cheers.

I’m back to gardening after an unexpected new card spree, which concluded with a Strata Premier approval… my only card with an annual fee, but as of right now I think I am keeping it. That 75k bonus pulled me in. 😂💰

(I am definitely not an AMEX Platinum type of dude at the moment!)

[MattClausen]

I'm making it my work over the next few months to end the term "5/24" I like Chad's "Artifucual Scarcity" term

[Anthonyjones-pqff]

CJ loved this video it’s probably my favorite one of all your video very truth very honest straight forward
You have to visit a Amex centurion lounge
In judge it for yourself
Yeah you have a point the platinum is a heavy fee But sometimes in life you have too treat yourself right you worked for it enjoy the finer things in life. Life is short
My point being
Yeah you could the same thing with the Capital one X card but their lounges are not everywhere tx, Washington, Denver .
Compared to Amex centurion lounges
For me it’s worth it for the times that I do travel which is five to six times a year
I weather relax enjoy a drink or two then to sit in the open area at the Airport when traveling
Why not take advantage?of priority passes.
For the Amex Platinum is worth it I travel with family of six

[Emily_CM]

Excellent Video. I downgraded the Platinum to the Green. And I am pleased.

[billwright]

I look at cards being used. I see younger people using the platinum all the time being used for food.

[AGrg]

I will be closing next week or so as the annual fee is posted this week... Unless I get the good retention offer...

[WarSociety]

The platinum is a very case by case basis card, narrowing it down to just flying a certain amount of times a year is no fair to the card in my opinion

[macgamer]

I don’t care for their credit card, love their savings account

[EXPRECDJ]

I travel and fly for work and personal trips at least once a month. So many people travel twice a year and hold a platinum card. Pointless.