Credit Card Spending for 2009 Review

Why am doing this? Blame it on being an accountant coupled with my fear of being wrongly billed or overspending. But I do want to check how having a CC affected my spending habits.I got my credit card last December 2008.

Credit Card: BPI Edge with E-Credit
Penalties Paid: Php 0
Annual Fee: Free for the first year, reversed for the next 6 months
Period: December 2008 - December 2009 (13 months)

Percentage of Expenses swiped in CC: 38%. (Expenses is defined as Net Income less Savings/Investments)

Lowest amount swiped - Php 70++ for toiletries
Hight amount swiped - Php XX,XXX for laptop

100% Pie = CC usage.

Necessary Stuff, 22%
This one is quite misleading. It is 22% because I bought a laptop this year. So huge chunk of the 22% pertains to that purchase. This also includes my eyewear, really-must-have books and magazines, haircut and music-related purchases.

Clothes and Shoes, 19%
I buy cheap clothes. Thanks to Trinoma Landmark. Tutuban and 168 clothes are sold in Trinoma landmark anyway.I bought more expensive shoes this year. And this chunk excludes all of those I purchased online (which requires bank deposit).

Food- 20%
Comprises of my food intake paid thru CC, birthday meals, family treats, groceries and pasalubong. Groceries also include some bathroom items but that is very minimal so I didn't bother taking that out of this slice.

Naki-Swipe - 14%
When the group eats, I volunteer my credit card. For points of course. And I get freebies for the 1K above purchases. This slice comprises of those who pay me their share. So that's a win for me! Includes plane tickets bought online for others as well. I'm quite surprised it comprised 14% of my total CC amount.

Gifts - 9%
Gifts for family, friends, Christmas gifts, exchange gifts

Travel - 6%
Online ticket purchases, travel gears, travel stuff (sublock, food, etc.).Excludes the cash outlays related to travel. Now that's another story, and another project.

Donations - 5%
My sponsorship to World Vision is billed thru my credit card. Less hassle in paying. Nakatulong ka na,may points pa!

Whatever stuff - 3%
I'm so happy this is 3%! This comprises of my impulse buys of stuff. Prior to having a CC, I already have a impulse buying limit of Php 20/day. This means that my I can't purchase unplanned items above Php 20 - like CDs, books and stuff on sale. Since I had a CC, I was worried that this may balloon my purchases. Apparently, it did increase my impulse buying but the amount is just minimal. Really! I hope I can continue this level of spending in this category.

Entertainment - 2%
Ticket concerts. A measly 2% for my share. Those swiped for others are included in the "Naki-swipe" category.

Amount of Monthly CC Swiping:

I've also decided to make an analysis on the amount I swipe in my cc. Results are shown in the line graph below:

Spikes:
June - bought my laptop
August - birthmonth, lots of purchases and treats
October - SM Megamall Sale. Bought shoes for my Dad. Gosh, men's shoes are costly.
December - the Holidays of course

Overall, I think I've got my swiping under control.

Benefits of Using a Credit Card
- No need to carry cash all the time
- I get "praning" with overswiping that can lead me to financial ruin. Hence, I can still keep my spending at a minimum.
- Freebies!The table below reflects the number of freebies I claimed during this past year. BPI has really cool CC freebies!

That's a total of 44 free meal items! Assuming each items costs Php 50, that's a total of Php 2,200 free items. Of course, one should consider just to buy the item itself rather always try to spend Php 1,000 in one sitting.



So that's my credit card spending for 2009. I'm hoping for better CC deals this 2010. Cheers!