- Faced with a $4,000 dental bill recently, I opened a 0% intro APR credit card to cover the expense.
- I'll pay the balance off in full before the end of the 0% APR period to avoid interest.
- I chose the
Chase Freedom Unlimited® for its generous 0% APR on purchases intro offer, welcome bonus, and rewards. - Read Insider's guide to the low-interest credit cards.
Nothing can derail your finances like getting hit with a large, unexpected bill.
This is what happened to me at the end of 2020. A trip to the dentist revealed that I needed to have about $4,000 in dental work done — an expense I hadn't planned for.
Of course, this came up in the middle of a pandemic, right before the holidays, when finances are already stressful enough. Luckily, I have a decent emergency fund saved up for times like this.
However, I'd finally just finished replenishing my emergency fund after having drawn money from it for several months at the beginning of the pandemic when I lost work, and I wasn't too keen on tapping into it again already. After all, we're still in a recession, and with so much economic uncertainty, I prefer to keep some cash reserves on hand just in case.
I have about six months of living expenses saved up and didn't want to dip below that if I could avoid it. So, I came up with another way to pay.
Finding a low-interest credit card to cover my dental bills
I'd been thinking about getting a new rewards credit card that aligns better with my current spending habits, and that's when it hit me: with the right credit card, I could pay off these bills over time interest-free and use the unexpected expense to earn some extra rewards.
Lots of credit cards come with 0% intro APR offers. You usually have to have good credit to qualify, and if you do, you'll get a 0% APR on your purchases for the entirety of the promotional period, as long as you make your minimum monthly payments on time. These 0% intro APR cards do have some pitfalls though. It's crucial to make sure you can pay off the card before the promotional period ends, or you'll end up paying the ongoing APR on your remaining balance, which is usually quite high.
What I needed was a credit card with a decent 0% intro APR offer (at least 12 months, to give me enough time to pay off the $4,000 balance) and rewards I'd actually use. The cherry on top would be a good welcome bonus so I could use my dental bills to meet the minimum spending requirements.
How I earned $390 in credit card rewards on my dental bills
I ended up going with the
The main reason I chose the
Since I already have an Ultimate Rewards-earning credit card (the
Since the
Other options for making the most of a big expense
It's not the biggest welcome bonus out there, but I was more focused on the 0% intro APR offer and getting a credit card with an ongoing rewards system that would actually benefit me. At the time,
Had I already had a good everyday card in my wallet, I might have looked for a credit card with a bigger welcome bonus or a longer 0% intro APR period. Some of the best low-interest credit cards offer a 0% intro APR on purchases, balance transfers, or both for up to 18 months. For example, the
If I'd been willing to pay off the expense using my emergency fund, I would've focused on a credit card with a lucrative welcome bonus and a big minimum spending requirement that I might not otherwise be able to achieve. For example,
Or, with the
Not only did I find a way to cover an unexpected expense without dipping into my savings or paying interest, but I was also able to earn some pretty generous rewards. At the same time, I set up automatic monthly payments to ensure that my dental bills are paid off before the introductory period ends, because rewards are never worth ending up in credit card debt.
