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Playing the Credit Card Game

Credit card companies are established to make money from the service they are rendering for their customers. Though they are always happy if their clients have a good credit rating, but they are not always happy when you pay off their credit card balance each month. Their wish is that you always carry a balance every month so that they can charge interest on your account. Because of this reason, they are responding by becoming more creative at finding ways to make money off you.

So, there is a need for you to be a smart customer so that you don’t fall the victim, as it can end up affecting your credit rating. In this article, we will look at a few ways you can escape their financial traps.

Make sure you read the information you get from your card issuing company. Read every form you get from the potential card company. Also, make sure you study the bill and every other information you get from your credit card company over time because they can change their terms of your card agreement with as little as 15 days and if you are careless to take note of this it may end up affecting your credit.

Make sure you avoid late payments of your fees. If you make a late payment you can be subjected to larger balance on your account and your card issuing company may hike your interest rate as a result of this.

Avoid carrying a balance every month because you will end up paying far more than you should for everything you charge to your card. Make sure you pay for everything your charge within the grace period if there is any and you will not fall victim of high-interest rates. Failure to do this will lead to accumulation of debt, which will end up spoiling your credit report if you are not careful.

If you are not feeling comfortable with the service you are getting from your issuing company or any of their terms make sure your complaint doesn’t die in silence. Because of the competition most of these companies are facing they will be forced to answer your complaint, and as a matter of fact, make adjustment where possible. For example, if you’ve been getting high-interest fees you can have it lowered by just making your request to your issuing company.

You are free to shop around when you are thinking of getting a new card. Why should you be forced to one company you don’t feel you are comfortable with when there are lots of them out there. Shop around you can get whatever you want.

You can get an interest rate you want, grace period or a card without an annual fee charge. So, go out there, compare the rates, and terms of several cards before you make your choice. The choice you make today will surely determine your credit report tomorrow.

Most cardholders are careless when it comes to checking their credit report with the credit bureau or agencies involved. If you pay your balance on time and don’t carry balance often you have to make sure that your card issuing company reports your performance to the bureau on time. You may possibly want to get a loan in the future and your present credit performance will help you a lot in getting approval on time.

Bad spending habits are one of the viruses that have infected most of the card users in recent years. As a matter of fact, the use of the internet has even made it easy for every card used to get anything they want within minutes. So may find it impossible to control their spending. Most of the websites even make it so easy that you will not even know when you are giving them your card information.

There is a way out to make sure that you keep your card away most of the time. Most especially when you are accessing the internet and when you are going out. If it’s a must that you carry the card because of emergencies, take only one along. However, you can reduce or even stop the bad spending virus, if you stop buying things on impulse. If you are to buy anything at all make plan for it in advance.

We hope this information was beneficial. You can have anything you want if you are enthusiastic about putting in the time, effort and plans to get to your goals. Discover the secrets why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Click Here to view a video with more life tips!

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Manage Money with A Tight Budget

Often, the average salary earner garners just enough money to support and be on a break even with the numerous bills and fees presented to him. There is a common misconception of having to manage money with a tight budget in terms of being given the image of incapacity or lack of capability. However, in an optimistic point of view, having to manage money with a tight budget brings out the good qualities that a human being has in order to survive and exist in harmony with the demands of society. This only requires self-reflection and responsibility to focus on self-needs and thinking.

Tight Means Availability

Having a tight budget would mean that we are able to discern what things are available to us and allows us to properly identify and rank the things we need instead of what we want. In addition to that, we can choose and deliberate on the better benefits that we would be getting from choosing a better alternative than the one we would normally want.

The resources and basic needs of a person are already available in the society. Even as simple as the simple grocery items that we need for the maintenance of our homes is marketed in different brands and their respective offers. All we must do is know and understand the fine printing of each product and know what we really need at the right time.

Tight Means Better Responsibility

Having to deliberate on the hierarchy of needs we should be spending our hard-earned money brings out and develops our sense of responsibility. This responsibility ranges from the actual management of money for needs rather than wants and applies to the choices that we make to manage our existence. We are also developed into thinking about what we must do at certain stimuli presented to us. In this aspect, we learn to juggle and balance a very complex management system and practice perfection and efficiency from within.

Tight Means Better Management Practice

Being able to practice proper management would bring about a more efficient means of existing without much problems of having to look after things other than what we expected. For example, a credit card should be used to acquire things that are not accessible for normal acquisition or when an emergency is at hand. Still, having this power to have advanced “money” in the form of a loan does not mean that we should be using it as normal as if we had the actual money. Remember that this is borrowed money and therefore should be paid back. That is why sometimes a credit card is better left at home to lessen the chances of mismanaging money due to a subconscious thought that we can bend our budgeting anyway.

Tight Means A Means for Proactive Goal Setting

Human nature dictates that when provoked, a human fight back. This is a common and usual occurrence for any aspect that deals with human existence, including managing money for survival and living. When a human is presented with a tight budget, he is presented with a limitation that restricts his freedom. A normal response would be that the person finds ways in which to ease up a little bit of restriction one step at a time. This should ideally be the flow of thinking of proactive goal setting.

Have a plan of projecting yourself several years in the future and look at what you want and need, and plan. This also includes having to find ways of earning a bit more to add to the efficiency of productivity over time. Remember that the way to manage money with a tight budget is to look at it as a stepping stone to look for greener pastures, not as a wall to block your aspirations.

3 Easy Steps to Beat Credit Card Debt

WOW, whatever happened to our economy? It seems like abruptly things went right down the tubes. Suddenly we are all swimming or drowning, in debt. Now what? How do we fix our financial mess? How do we beat credit card debt once and for all? Easy, I’ll show you…

Unlike our parents’ generation when using credit was considered embarrassing and a sign of poverty, our society today encourages debt. No one thinks it’s wrong to use credit to live way beyond our means. It’s even become something of a status symbol to have a lot of credit cards.

Unfortunately, that financial philosophy is proving to not be such a great idea after all. So many of us were living at the very brink of our financial limits and one tiny little push was all it took to send us teetering over the cliff.

We can’t go back and change the decisions we made yesterday but we can change what we do today so that we can be more secure tomorrow. There are several things you can start doing today that can help you find a much more stable financial footing and can keep you on balance for the rest of your life, no matter what the economy decides it’s going to do.

To tame your credit card debt, use these simple tips:

1) Consolidate your debt. This means that instead of paying $50 a month on 10 credit cards ($500 per month) you combine all your debt into one loan and pay one smaller fee ($300 per month, for example) Most consolidation loans accrue interest differently than a credit card so you will be paying more in principle with every payment.

If you are only paying the minimum fee on your credit card bill you are paying only interest. You are not even touching the principle. You will have a very hard time ever paying your card down that way. There are many debt consolidation services available today. Start by asking your local bank who they recommend.

2) Do it yourself. Even if you can’t increase your income you can still pay off your debt yourself. It will take time and discipline, but it has worked for thousands of people.

This method simply requires you to pay the minimum payments on all your credit cards every month, focusing on the smallest debt and adding any extra money to that card every month. Remember that adding even a few extra dollars a month to your minimum payment will go directly to the principle.

After a while, you will have the smallest debt paid off. When you reach that point you will take the money you were using to pay on that card and apply it to the next smallest debt. And so on, and so on, until all your credit card debt is paid off.

3) Reduce your dependence on credit cards by leaving them at home. Instead, Of carrying all your credit cards with you and possibly having them stolen or lost use cash or debit card for your purchases. Leaving your credit cards at home will allow you time to consider if you really need to make this purchase or is it just a want, slowing down your buying process.

Getting yourself out of debt and rebuilding your credit isn’t going to be easy. It’s always tough to change habits. You can beat credit card debt once and for all you will have a much more secure financial future and it doesn’t matter what the economy does, you’ll be set!

Shopping For Your New Credit Card

When you are ready to take a new credit card there are lots of factors you need to consider. Among these factors is credit card terms. You need to choose the plan terms that best fit and suit your financial needs. You need to consider plan terms like free period or grace period, annual percentage rate (APR), annual membership or participation fee, transaction fee among others.

It’s very important that you understand each of the credit card plan terms before you accept the card to avoid putting yourself in financial bondage. For example, if your issuing company did not give free period and you are unable to pay on time your account will be charged and it will end up adding to your debt.

There are several cases of card theft in recent days so it’s advisable that you keep your card very well to avoid unauthorized use. Also, don’t give away your card information where you aren’t feeling secure. Another way to avoid lost or unauthorized use of your card is to only carry the card you think you will use. And in case of loss of your card you need to call the issuer and inform them of the loss quickly. So, keeping separate records of each of your account number, expiration date, and issuer contact information is very important as well.

It’s very important that you reconcile your account when you get a statement of account from your card issuer. In other to reconcile your account successfully you need to keep a record of receipts where possible and personal note where you don’t have a receipt. Most likely you will discover errors which could have been added to your statement without you noticing it.

Keeping the above tips in mind will help you while shopping for a new card and using it as well.

In closing, we invite you to share your comments on this and or other posts. If you find the information useful, please Like & Share us and subscribe to this site for an update as we reveal new strategies. Remember to keep an open mind and Shift 4 Freedom.

Bank Fees One of The Ways Banks Make Money

One of the ways banks make money is through the various Bank Fees they have. But the major one that nets them the most profit is the dreaded overdraft fee. I am sure everyone out there has had to deal with this at least once in their lives. It is not a pleasant thing to see when you log into your account. Not only could you not cover the payment, but now you must pay even more.

If you do not want to have to deal with these overdraft fees, there are some rather simple steps you can take to avoid them. There is also some information you can use to better protect yourself. Learning some of the games the banks like to play will give you the ability to play, and win those games.

First and foremost, try to avoid cutting it close. If you will be getting money deposited overnight, as well as money being taken out, this can often lead to overdraft fees. One of the tricks banks like to play is that they will process a check first so that you are overdrawn, then they will deposit the money you earned. So even though you had the money there, because of the order it was all done in you still must pay an overdraft fee.

So, if possible, try to avoid waiting until the last day to protect yourself from such Bank Fees. Another thing you should try to do is stop relying on check or credit cards. These things lead to a false sense of security, as you can buy things even when you do not actually have the money.

Things like credit cards are good for emergencies, but they should not be used for daily things. If you are buying gas or buying groceries, pay in cash. If you do not have cash, ask yourself why? You need the money to cover these expenses, whether you use a credit card or not, so figure out why you seem to never have the cash when you need it.

If you can alter your budget to rely solely on cash, you will have a lot fewer problems with debt and the various Bank Fees out there. It can be a bit more of a hassle having to carry cash around all the time, but in the long run, it can save you a lot of money.

Another tip you should consider is the whole overdraft protection thing banks offer. It sounds good in theory, protecting you so that you can buy what you need even if your account is empty. But it really is not useful. If you use credit cards primarily, then simply having them denied outright is preferable.

It can be embarrassing to have your credit card denied when at the store, but it is far better than having to pay an overdraft fee, isn’t it? Money is tight for a lot of people, see you need to do what you can to save what you do have. Even if it means suffering a little humiliation.

Discover the secrets why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Click Here to view a video with more life tips! In closing, I invite you to share your commits on this and all the posts. Like us on Facebook and Google Plus. Remember to keep an open mind and Shift 4 Freedom.