habits

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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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!