Use Credit Cards. Don't Let Them Use You.

A credit card is a tool. Like any tool, it can build or destroy — depending on who’s wielding it.

I’ve seen both. I’ve been both. I once had 11 credit cards with a combined credit limit of over ₹50 lakhs. Today, I have two. Not because I couldn’t manage more, but because I realised the game I was playing wasn’t worth winning.

Why I Use Credit Cards at All

One reason: fraud protection.

When you use a debit card online and someone steals your details, that money leaves your account immediately. While you’re disputing the charge, your rent cheque might bounce. Your emergency fund might be temporarily wiped out.

With a credit card, the fraudulent charge sits on the bank’s books, not yours. You’re disputing someone else’s money, not fighting to get your own back.

I haven’t had a fraud incident. I don’t want to find out the hard way which scenario is easier to deal with. So I use credit cards for everything and keep my debit card locked away.

How I Ended Up With 11 Credit Cards

My first card came with my salary account at Kotak. Then Amazon ICICI because I use Amazon a lot. Then OneCard because it was metal and my friend had one.

Then I discovered credit card influencers. Every few weeks, someone would recommend a new card with amazing rewards. 5% on dining. 10x points on travel. Best lounge access.

I applied for them all. At my peak: 11 cards, ₹50 lakhs combined limit. I knew which card to swipe for which category. I tracked rewards across multiple apps. I felt like I was winning.

I wasn’t.

I was spending hours optimising returns on my spending — hours that could have gone toward increasing my income. If you spend ₹1 lakh monthly and optimise perfectly, you might earn an extra ₹500 in rewards compared to one good card. That’s ₹6,000 a year. For hours of mental overhead every month.

I was also checking credit card apps constantly. When bored, I’d look at reward points. It was a low-grade addiction consuming brain calories that should have gone elsewhere.

The Horror Story

I have a friend with 18 credit cards.

He has debt outside credit cards too. At one point, he was using one card to pay off another — Card A to pay rent via a payment app, get cash back from family, use that to pay Card B. Rotating debt to stay afloat.

One time, he ran out of credit limit across all his cards. The rotation couldn’t complete. He called me in a panic, and I had to lend him money for six hours — just long enough for him to complete the cycle. Six hours. That’s how tight the rope was.

He’s smart. He’s capable. If he’d spent half the mental energy he puts into optimising credit card rewards on building his actual skills, he’d be in a completely different financial position.

That’s the real cost no one talks about.

My Rules for Credit Cards

Rule 1: Always pay the full amount.

Not the minimum due. The full amount. Every month. Credit card interest rates in India run 24% to 48% annually. If you carry a balance, you’re paying more in interest than any reward programme will ever return.

Rule 2: No credit card without a 12-month emergency fund.

If you don’t have cash reserves and you have access to a credit card, you will use it in a crisis. Then you’ll be paying 36% interest on your emergency. The emergency fund comes first.

Rule 3: One card. Maybe two.

The mental fatigue of managing multiple cards isn’t worth the marginal extra rewards. Get one premium card with a good base reward rate. Swipe it everywhere. Don’t think about it.

Rule 4: Never buy anything on No-Cost EMI.

If you can’t buy it in cash right now, you shouldn’t be buying it. No-Cost EMI normalises debt thinking. Once you’re comfortable with one EMI, the next is easier.

Mental peace is better than the latest iPhone.

Why Premium Cards?

“Why pay ₹5,000-10,000 annually when there are lifetime free cards?”

Customer support. When something goes wrong, you want a bank that picks up the phone. Premium cards usually have better support and faster resolution.

Simplicity. Premium cards have good base reward rates (1.5-2% on everything). No need to track which category gives bonus points.

The fee often gets waived if you hit a spending threshold — which you likely will if you’re putting everything on one card. And joining benefits usually exceed the first year’s fee anyway.

What I Use

Primary: HSBC Travel One. Good customer support reputation, and crucially — reward points don’t expire. No pressure to track and redeem before losing them.

Backup: HDFC Regalia Gold. Just there if my primary fails somewhere.

On Credit Limits

That ₹50 lakh limit I had? It felt powerful. Like I had that much money at my disposal.

Dangerous feeling. A high credit limit isn’t your money — it’s potential debt at 36% interest.

I’ve reduced my limits. When banks offer increases, I decline. Lower limit means lower fraud exposure, less temptation, and I can’t accidentally dig a hole that takes years to escape.

“But what about credit utilisation ratio for your credit score?”

I don’t optimise for credit score. I optimise for peace of mind.

Read: Your Credit Score Is a Debt Score, Not a Wealth Score

The Simple System

Build a 12-month emergency fund first. No credit card until this is done.
Get one premium card with good base rewards, decent support, and points that don’t expire easily.
Use it for everything. Don’t think about categories.
Pay the full balance every month.
Align your due date to around the 5th. I pay all bills on the 1st — rent, subscriptions, everything. Due date on the 5th gives me buffer. One day, one ritual, all bills done. (More on this in a future post.)
Check your statement monthly for fraud.
Keep your credit limit reasonable. Decline increases.
One backup card for emergencies.

This system requires almost zero mental overhead. Fraud protection. Some rewards. No debt.

The Bottom Line

Credit cards aren’t evil. Used correctly, they’re useful for fraud protection and convenience.

But the industry is designed to make you a customer for life — paying interest, chasing rewards, staying engaged with apps and promotions. They win when you carry a balance. They win when you spend hours thinking about their products.

I refuse to play that game.

Two cards. One for everything. Paid in full every month. No rewards tracking. No optimisation.

I use credit cards. They don’t use me.

“There are two ways to be rich: One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little.” — Jackie French Koller