 TITLE: How to Budget Using a Credit Card CONTENT: How to Use Your Credit Card With Specific Budgeting Methods\n-----------------------------------------------------------\nYour credit card can have a place in any budgeting strategy you choose. Here's how it can fit into three popular methods:\n*   **50\/30\/20 budget**: This strategy suggests spending 50% or less of your take-home income on essentials, no more than 30% on nonessentials, and 20% or more on savings and debt payoff. You can use your credit card to pay for all nonessentials, for instance, and set 30% of your take-home income as your monthly credit card spending limit. You can also opt to get any cash back you earn as a deposit directly in your checking account, if your issuer allows for that, and put that money toward debt payoff.\n*   **Zero-based budget**: A more time-intensive strategy, zero-based budgeting requires you to assign each dollar you earn to a category, including savings, so that nothing is left unaccounted for. With more detailed categories in place, you can decide to use credit cards just for certain types of purchases, perhaps tied to rewards categories you're likely to collect a lot of points or cash back in.\n*   **Envelope budget**: Traditionally, the envelope system requires users to give themselves spending limits in various categories and then place that amount in cash in dedicated physical envelopes. You can now use this system digitally via various apps. You can give yourself a credit card purchase budget, and assign yourself a limit for what you'll pay with credit that month—either by writing that amount on a physical envelope or listing it as a line item in an app. Or you can use the physical envelope system only for certain budget categories and credit cards for other categories.\nWhile budgeting can be a bit more challenging when you regularly use a credit card for purchases, finding a strategy and sticking with it can help you keep your expenses on track—and help you get extra value on a regular basis with your credit card's travel rewards, cash back and other benefits. END