The festive season is around the corner and you have just started your rally of purchases for yourself and your loved ones. To enable your rally of purchases you have just taken a credit card to facilitate your purchases. Yet, when the bill arrives, it's quite normal to regret your purchases and the numerous gifts you bought for people you barely knew. Not all of us plan our investments and expenditure decisions with a credit card. In a world where gaining a credit card is not too difficult, it may be quite possible to plan investment and expenditure decisions as well. We discuss the ways in which one can plan investments and expenditure in the future with a credit card.

Credit cards can help you plan

Planning finances with a credit card is not rocket science. Having the ability to defer the payments for your dues and purchases is one of the most valuable conveniences that one can have with a credit card. Most consider a credit card as the ideal doorway to make purchases yet they do not consider cumulative payments that need to be paid in the future. Let's take a look at the ways in which one can plan finances with a credit card.

1. Read the benefits of your credit card: After you apply for a credit card, read the various aspects that can be paid by using the credit card alone. Depending upon the limit of your card, you will be able to judge the level of purchases you can make with it. For instance, a card with a lower limit can undertake limited purchases as compared to one with a higher limit. In this case, you will be able to make basic purchases in the previous instance compared to the latter one.

2. Take heed of your budgetary components: It's quite possible that your income will not suffice the impending purchases for the month. Consider the gap that is likely to exist when you conduct your purchases at the end of the month. These can be taken care of via a credit card.

3. Allocate components within the budget: Take a careful look at the various components that take a major portion of your income. Always be generous while planning the budget to include factors that are likely to occur such as birthdays, medical emergencies and other such events that may require the use of your credit card. You may even include the payment of utilities and other vital aspects of your budget to be paid via your credit card account.

4. Don't use the credit card for the last minute purchases: Use your credit card whenever you deem fit. You can use the credit card to make basic to advanced purchases and gain several benefits such as points, offers and other facilities on the card.

Choose the type of credit card very carefully before you trust your budgetary components with it. Take heed of the notifications for paying the credit card amount before you begin repaying your credit card bill with interest.

(Contributed by Anupama Sughosh, an independent finance blogger)