When it comes to credit card debt, or more specifically avoiding it, the general consensus seems to be “pay off your credit card balance in full each month.” What if you wanted to use that credit card as actual credit though, to finance a larger purchase without having to lay out all of the cash up front? Is it ever okay to finance purchases with a credit card, or does it always end up causing more problems than it solves?

Despite the bad reputation, credit card financing can indeed be a good thing. Here are a few examples of situations where financing a purchase using your credit card (and not paying it off in full right away) can be a decent option:

1. You can avoid even higher interest rates by using your credit card.

If you’re considering a large purchase, it’s possible that store credit or a loan seem like good options for you. However, if you’re using a low interest credit card (like the Bankwest Lite MasterCard), you might actually be able to save money by using your credit card instead.

2. The deal is too good to be true.

Ideally you’ll be able to set aside enough cash to pay for large purchases up front (or to immediately pay off the credit card balance). However, every once in a while a deal comes along before you’ve socked away enough money, and you just can’t pass it up (like a company liquidation sale for example). In that case, the money you save with the sale price could more than make up for any credit card fees and interest you end up paying.

3. You could make money by paying off the credit card balance more slowly.

While this won’t apply to most people and most circumstances, perhaps it does apply to you. Let’s say your credit card has a 10.99% APR (like the Citibank Clear Platinum credit card). You charge a $5000 purchase to your credit card. You also know that you can earn a 15% return on the cash you have available within that same year (maybe through an investment or putting it into your own business). In this case it might make sense to make your minimum payments on the credit card and then earn a return on the rest of the cash in the meantime, essentially earning around a 4% profit.

4. The purchase really is a necessity.

Sometimes you just don’t have the option to pay off your credit card balance in full quickly, and you have to make a large purchase anyway (unexpected home or auto repairs would be examples). As long as you know you can make the payments, the interest could be well worth it as leaving some problems alone until you have the money can not only make them worse but also more expensive to repair later.

If you’re financing and paying interest on the little things in life, like petrol and groceries, you might need to re-evaluate your budget or spending habits in order to avoid deep credit card debt. But don’t feel like you should never finance a purchase with your credit card. After all, that’s what they’re set up to do. The trick is to know what you’re getting yourself into up front, and be responsible about which items you choose to finance and which ones you choose to skip altogether.