Money management using Credit Cards

I have been using various debit cards and UPI quite a long time. So I tried to keep myself away from credit cards for a longer period. But once I thought to try some credit cards, credit cards are double sided swords, they can give you enjoyment as well as let you in debt trap. My thought was to at least try within limits and test how it can save some money. So I tried a bunch of cards from different banks and different providers like VISA, Mastercard and Rupay. Most of my credit cards are maintenance free and co-branded. Each with a different purpose, like one for online shopping, one for better fuel points, one for occasional offers only. 

During routine life, I was not using them to their limits, but as the road trip goes longer, I thought to use them exhaustively and to their limits. So before using I made some thumb rules that I will follow to avoid any later problems. Here is the list of some thumb rules: 

1. Set limit to 30% for all credit cards. 
2. Calculate total balance in all bank accounts and tally is with credit cards limits, so that payments can be made after usage without worrying.
3. Marked each credit card to a purpose like one for Hotel bookings, second for refuelling, third one for food, snacks and shopping (the one with UPI enabled credit card wherever POS machine is not available), UPI and cash for sightseeing and tickets and so on. 

How money got saved ? 

Since I was making most payments through Credit Cards(CC), I was getting some reward points from each transaction, since the tour was around 15 days long and budget was above lakh, so at least using those points, we can get one hotel night for free. It also helped to keep track of all our transaction without any manual record keeping. There are some lucrative offers from hotels and online hotel booking apps for different bank cards. So saved a hotel night and full tank of fuel by just reward points and offers. 

Note: Using credit cards without proper information can be risky and lead to debt trap, so we kept our cards limits only upto the balance we have in our saving bank account, so that payment will be made without any penalty and delay. Never use credit cards for cash withdrawal, we use banks debit cards for cash withdrawal only. Credit cards are more secure than debit cards, so we don't ever make any payment using debit card online. 

Credit cards are deactivated for all ATM and international transaction.