Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering

Trouble sticking to a budget when using credit cards for day to day transactions?
I am like you with not acknowledging balances in my accounts, so I pay my credit card early and often.  Much more than once a month.  With my banks bill pay, I can send money to the credit card for free and at any time.   I pay it every two weeks (when I get paid), and I will put other extra payments on there if I bought a large item.  It helps me keep my balances based in reality in Quicken. For example, I saved the cash for my trip, put the trip on my credit card, then paid it all off the day after I got home.  I used the card because I didn't want to carry the cash, I wanted the rewards cash back, I wanted the automatic protection on the car rental, and I couldn't pay for a hotel with cash. There are many good reasons to use credit cards, but only if you can avoid carrying a balance.