How to Track Credit

Card Purchases

TRISHA MILLER | October 26,

2017
Credit
Credit Card Debt
Credit Cards

Tracking your credit card

purchases is extremely
important if you plan on using it
regularly. It can help you
budget your entire financial
plan as well as keep you in
check with payment due dates
and save you from late
payment fees. In addition, you’ll
benefit from being the first to
know if something fraudulent
hits your account. You can
quickly report and remedy any
cases of fraud that you could
potentially come across, and
having that extra layer of
defense is always a good
feeling. Let’s take a deeper
look into everything you need
to know about how, why, and
when to track your credit card
purchases.

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Table of Contents [hide]

1 Best Methods for Tracking

Purchases
2 How Tracking Purchases
Helps Your Budget
3 How Tracking Helps Your
Credit Score & Credit Card
Rewards
4 Tracking Your Purchases
Can Alert You to Fraud

Best Methods for

Tracking Purchases
The first step toward
successfully tracking your
purchases starts with
becoming familiar with your
online and mobile banking
systems. These tools are the
best way to stay in tune with
what’s happening on your
account. Via your online bank,
you should be able to see your
current balance, any charges
that have been posted to your
account, and a history of your
purchases as well. You may
have a section for pending
purchases, but not all banks
offer this system, so you’ll need
to be aware of purchases that
you have made and the fact
that it may take several
business days for your charge
to go through.

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Modern banking systems are

constantly being updated with
new features for your
convenience. For example, you
can set up purchase and
payment alerts that notify you
when certain actions are taking
place. If you want to know
when all new charges happen
on your account, you can set
up your alerts to send you an
email, text, or notification
through your mobile app. You
can also stay within budget by
alerting yourself when your
charges exceed a certain limit.

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If all else fails (or you simply

prefer it), try using a pen and
paper. This is great for visual
people who prefer to see every
charge right in front of them.
Save receipts, jot down a note,
take a picture, or anything else
that can help you keep track of
your purchases. When you get
home, you can check your
account and line that up with
recent purchases that you’ve
made. This way, you can stay
completely up to date instead
of being thrown off by a
pending charge that hasn’t
posted yet.

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How Tracking
Purchases Helps
Your Budget
Chances are that you got a
credit card in order to help
supplement your income and
possibly to build your credit. As
such, your credit card should
always stay within a
manageable balance. Getting
in over your head with too
many purchases will likely have
a negative effect on your
budget instead of a positive
one, which is why tracking your
purchases is so crucial to your
financial health.

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In addition, learning how to

proficiently budget, charge,
and pay off your credit card will
help you with the rest of your
budget. You’ll know where
every penny is spent, if it’s
being put to good use, and
where you might be able to fill
in gaps within your financial
plan. You’ll also be aware of
your current balance, when
your payment is due, and how
much that payment should be,
which will save you from late
payment fees and unnecessary
interest costs.

How Tracking Helps

Your Credit Score &
Credit Card Rewards
Another common aspect of
credit cards that tends to add
up over time are your credit
card rewards. Some rewards
accumulate as a result of
certain purchases or particular
purchases of a specific dollar
amount. Knowing when these
types of purchases will hit your
account will help you to
properly track the progress of
your rewards, which means
more accuracy when you’re
trying to hit a certain rewards
goal.

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What’s more, if you’re able to

successfully track your
purchases, use your credit
card wisely, and set up an
appropriate budget that fits
your needs, your credit score
will also thank you in the end.
When you’re ready to take out a
larger loan, your credit will
already be in a good place for
getting approved. You’ll have
learned all of the appropriate
financial processes that will
help you keep a squeaky clean
budget and a sparkling credit
score long term, which means
all of your financial dreams will
eventually be within reach.

Tracking Your
Purchases Can Alert
You to Fraud
Now, you’re aware of both how
to track your purchases and
why it’s good for you financially,
but what about how to spot
credit card fraud? Of course,
this is a serious issue that most
of us have heard a lot about.
There are constant scams and
security breaches happening
all of the time. How do you
know if you’ve fallen victim to
one of them?

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If you’re tracking your balance

and every purchase on your
credit card, you’ll never be
surprised by a false one. If
something shows up on your
account that you don’t
recognize, you’ll be able to
identify it right away and report
it to your bank or credit card
company. Not to mention, this
method costs you nothing and
takes up very little of your time.
If you’re already doing for
budgeting reasons, this is just
an added bonus that comes
along with your due diligence.

As I mentioned earlier, you can

also set up alerts with your
credit card purchases. This is
another layer of defense and
can alert you immediately if
something fraudulent has been
charged to your account. You’ll
know right away when it comes
out of your account, instead of
whenever you usually check
your account balance and
charges. The faster you’re able
to identify possible cases of
fraud, the quicker your bank or
card company can start
remedying the situation.

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As you can see, there are a

myriad of reasons for tracking
your credit card purchases. Of
course, how you do it is
completely up to you. However,
if you follow these steps and
methods you’ll be confident in
your budget, how your credit
card works, and your ability to
catch fraudulent behavior on
your account. Pick up your
phone, notepad, or computer
and start tracking now.

Done tracking and need more

credit card information? Visit
our credit card learning center.

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Image
Source: https://depositphotos.com/

Trisha is a writer and blogger

from Boise, ID. She is a
dedicated vegan, an avid
gamer, cat lover, and amateur
SFX artist.

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This post was updated

February 28, 2019. It was
originally published October
26, 2017.

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