I Have a Business Credit Card Now

I feel so professional!

I told you there were a few more pieces of financial housekeeping that I needed to complete before the end of the year, and one of them involved applying for a business credit card.

Yes, it took me four years of freelancing to do this.

Yes, I did it because my new CPA strongly suggested it—but I also asked her if it was something I should do, so I was being proactive!

Yes, I am very excited.

Instead of tracking business expenses in a special category on Mint and shoving business-related email receipts into a special Gmail folder—or, more appropriately, in addition to these things—I now get to run all of my business expenses through a dedicated credit card and pay the card off in full every month. I also get to say, to anyone who asks, “yes, I am a professional, I do not mix personal and business expenses on the same credit card and sort them out later.”

One of my 2016 freelancing projects involved researching business credit cards, which meant that I was well-prepared to select my own card—the Chase Ink Cash, if you’re curious—and to know exactly how to use its benefits and perks.

The Best Business Credit Cards for 2016 – Reviews.com

But there are a lot of things I don’t yet know about my new card, like what the credit limit is or what interest rate I’ll get or whether this new line of credit will bump up my credit score—which is currently 803, now that I’ve finally paid off all my debt. All I know is that I’m approved, and now I have to wait for the card to arrive in the mail, like a holiday gift for my business. (I’d say “Christmas present,” but my business is nondenominational.)

I also don’t know whether all of my credit card interest rates will get jacked up in the next month or so, thanks to the Federal Reserve raising its interest rate for the second time in a decade:

How the Fed’s Interest Rate Increase Can Affect You

(That NYT article essentially says “Everything that has an interest rate will probably have a higher one pretty soon: credit cards, student loans, car loans, mortgages, etc. Also, since mortgage interest rates will increase, rents will probably increase. Have a happy 2017!”)

So I’ve ticked off one of the three remaining Financial Boxes that I have to get done before the end of the year. I’ll let you know as soon as I complete the last two.

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