Personal Finance Tips

Each week we are bombarded with credit card offers, telling us that this particular offer is the best. It is pretty annoying, when we know that most of these so called cheap credit cards are nothing but scams and are not even worth the time to look at. The best way to find a decent credit card is to compile a list of the best offers and choose the best of them – the best of the best so to say.

Before you can know which credit card offer is best for you you, must know exactly which credit card you are looking for. So make a list of requirements, then you can start to gather information from various credit card vendors. The best place to collect this information is online. This can be done by doing a search for ["credit card offers" + review] which also will give you other people’s opinion about the actual offers. Another or even simpler way is to check out the offers from recommended and reputable credit card companies.

When you have collected a few offers, it’s time to go through them and compare them according to your written requirements.
If you haven’t already included interest rates and credit card fees on your requirement list, you should add these to the comparison criterias as well. You know many credit cards are attached with so called ‘hidden charges’ or charges in ‘small prints’. An example of such a charge is a one-time enrollment fee for new cardholders. Therefore you should study the terms very carefully, also the ‘small printed’ part.

Many credit card companies are also charging a monthly or yearly cardholder fee. Then we have transaction fees, which is a fee you have to pay each time you use the credit card. These fees varies from company to company and when you compare, it is important that all costs are included so that you can find the deal that has the lowest total cost.

There are some credit cards however, without fees. These are the best credit cards. Though they are hard to find you can hit some of them, but you have to read the the application text carefully. You can also ask questions to the card company you investigate about all the different kind of fees they have before you decide which credit card you want to go for. To get a cheap card is all about doing a good preparatory legwork upfront.

Interest rates are also an important factor for the total cost of a credit card and should therefore also be studied and compared very carefully. You should look for cards with the lowest possible rate, all other factors equal. I have seen examples of credit card companies that charge more than 20% interest rate, and that is way too much. The best cards have interest rates lower than 15%. You should look at the long term interest rates and not introduction offers like lower or no interest rates the first month.

Some of the best credit card companies will even charge you a lower interest or no interest on purchases paid off in less than a certain number of days, in most cases 30 days.
Some people are more concerned about the spending limit instead of what it cost to have the card. For those with a limited amount of money to spend, the best credit card is the one that has the lowest total cost. If you are among them, look for hidden fees and interest. These determine the cost of your credit card.

Easy credit cards can be a financial trap, but they can also be a great financial tool if you can learn to use them responsibly. These days, finding easy credit cards isn’t, well, easy, but there are a few steps that you can take to get a credit card, even if your credit isn’t the best.

There are also a few ways that you can use these cards to improve your financial situation rather than to simply spend money you don’t have on things that you don’t need, which is how many people use these valuable financial tools. If you’re looking around for easy credit cards, you should check your credit score first, since it will affect the types of cards that you’ll be able to get. On your credit report, be sure that you check for mistakes that may lower your score unnecessarily.

Also, be sure that you aren’t in so much debt that taking out another credit card loan is a ridiculous idea.

If your debt to credit ratio is bad, though, getting another card that you use sparingly can actually improve your credit score. Next, start checking around for credit card offers. Many websites will show offers from several different credit card companies at a time, and these can be very helpful.

Often, these sites will also show you the credit scores that these cards are looking for, whether they are low, average, or high. This will also give you a good idea of the different cards you could reasonably apply for. When looking for easy credit cards, this is the best way to figure out what cards you can and cannot expect to actually obtain.

When you apply for cards, if you have poor credit, try applying for cards with lower credit limits.

The less money you’re asking for, the more likely you are to get a loan. You can always request a higher credit limit down the road when your credit improves slightly. The credit card company is more likely to trust you with this if your card isn’t maxed out and if you make your monthly payments on time on a regular basis.

Also, don’t forget to check the interest rates that you’re being offered.

If you really need the credit and plan to pay off the card every month, you can afford to use a card with a high interest rate, but if not, you could end up paying hundreds of dollars a year in finance charges. Finally, once you get your card, be sure that you use it wisely so that your financial situation improves over time instead of getting worse. You can, for instance, improve your credit score by paying your card on time all the time and by paying more than what you owe.

The best way to improve your credit score, though, is to never owe more than 50% of your credit limit and to pay off your card faithfully every month. After a few months of this, you’ll probably gain several points on your credit score, making it easier to apply for credit the next time around.

Among all types of credit cards, credit cards offering rewards or bonus points are usually the ones with the highest interest rates. But if you’re not cash strapped and you’ve got a steady (not to mention abundant) source of income then maybe, this type of credit card is the ideal credit card for you.

The way a credit card offering rewards or bonuses works is quite simple. Each time you use your credit card, you are awarded a point. The number of points you’re awarded depends on the amount of your purchase. You can maximize the use of your credit card if you’re also able to pay off your purchases before it could incur high finance charges. If you don’t, then whatever reward or bonus you’ll be earning later on may just be equal to what you’ve paid the company for in terms of interest charges.

There are different types of rewards that are offered by credit card companies and it is certainly better that you choose one that would suit you best to make you more motivated when it comes to paying promptly. Some credit cards offer travel benefits as rewards. These benefits include but are not limited to free air travel, free hotel stays and rental cars.

On the other hand, there are other credit cards that target shoppers as their primary client. For these people, they offer cash rebates, discounts on their favorite stores as well as free items of their choice. If your credit card is affiliated with a gas company, for example, then naturally one of the rewards that you’ll receive is free gas for your car. This is not a bad bargain at all when you consider the soaring prices for gas.

To save and earn more using your reward type credit card then it’s better to remember that you should only use your reward type credit card for short term or cheap purchases which you can easily pay off before it can incur high interest rates. On the other hand, long term or expensive purchases are better charged to credit cards that do not offer any rewards but have lower ongoing APR.

Secondly, make it a point to shop as much as you can on the stores or brands that are affiliated with your credit card company because it will earn you bonus points that you may not get from other stores.

Lastly, if you’re just planning to get a reward type credit card of your own, do make sure that you get the highest amount of sign up bonus that you can.

Balance Transfer Credit Cards offer to the cardholder the facility of balance transfer. By this facility, an outstanding debt balance on your one credit card can be transferred to another that is newer or less used. But the credit limit of the latter will have a reduction to the extent of the transferred sum.

For instance, suppose you transfer your outstanding debt of Rs. 20, 000 on your card A to card B which has a credit limit of Rs. 50, 000. By this, the credit limit of card B is reduced to Rs. 30, 000. Again, the transfer amount should not exceed 80% of the credit limit. For example, if the credit limit of your card is Rs. 50000, you can transfer to it only an amount up to Rs. 40000.

Transfer Credit Cards may offer zero interest in transfer. In order to induce potential customers to change from other cards to theirs, banks often offer low or zero interest balance transfer. But this is only for the introductory period of 3-6 months. After that the transferred amount acquires its original rate of interest.

If you want to avail a transfer credit card, as a first step, you have to apply to the credit card issuer for the facility of transferring your credit amount. Then on approval, your outstanding debt will be paid off by the card issuer and the due amount will be transferred to your new credit card. It may take 1-2 weeks to get the amount transferred. If you are not wary, your payment date may fall in between and you may not notice it. This will adversely affect you credit report. Hence, make it a point to pay the minimum due amount till the transfer is made.

Credit card companies may offer free balance transfers to woo customers. They may offer you two, one or zero percent interest. But this may be only for an initial grace period. But this opportunity can be used to reduce your credit card debt. Before applying for a balance transfer, you need to look into the terms to know if there are some hidden costs. There may be some initial fee or annual fee. Zero percent Balance Transfer Credit Cards gives you the facility of paying off debt along with saving money. You can save the 16 to 18% interest that you are supposed to pay otherwise.

Balance transfer credit cards can get you cash on emergency. You can even transfer money to your bank account or you can transfer through cheque. Balance transfer credit cards can change your habit of delaying payments. As you are pushed into paying off purchases, you can save interest otherwise payable.

Credit card terminology these days has become rather complicated and credit card users should understand some of the key terms that are used, and exactly how they influence the charges associated with the cards use. Incentive programs, interest rates, compounding methods all combine to make the use of a credit card a potentially costly experience.

The first term that is very important when it comes to credit cards is “Annual Fee”. Some credit card companies charge more then just interest. Some card companies charge a fee, paid annually to the card holder just for the privilege of having the card. This charge is applied to the card, even if the card is not used. This fee may rage any where from $5.00 to $300.00 and is usually only found on credit cards that are tailored to the very high end market.

Another common term used by the credit card companies is “Introductory rate” or “Intro rate”. This term will be found on credit cards that are offering discounted interest rates as an incentive to the buyer to accept on of these cards. Usually this rate is substantially below the regular interest rate charged by the credit card company. Often this rate is valid for a limited time period and once it expires the regular rate applies. Those considering this type of credit card should be very sure that they are aware of what the actual rate on the credit card will be after the offer’s expiry date. It is quite common for people to get trapped by running up a credit card on a large purchase thinking they will pay it off in a short period of time, and then get quite a surprise once the interest rate jumps back to the normally charged rate.

Many credit card companies encourage users to transfer the charges off their existing credit cards onto those of the new card. Usually this is offered or encouraged when the credit card has a low introductory interest rate. The credit card holder should be very careful and read the fine print to make sure they are not going to be charged a fee for this privilege. Often credit card companies have a “Balance transfer fee” that they charge to their customers when ever they consolidate the balances of all their other cards. This fee is often more money then would be saved by taking advantage of the lower interest rate.

Credit cards are a wonderful and convenient financial tool when they are used wisely. Making sure that the card holder has a complete understanding of the card, will guarantee this financial tool is used properly and the risk of financial hardship will be reduced.