Credit Card Debt and Interest

Filed Under (Best credit card deals) by admin on 21-04-2011

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Credit card debt is one of the leading cause for needing to file for bankruptcy or take out mortgage loans on your home or other drastic measures.  Studies indicate that credit card debt is slowly making a consumers financial situation bad or worse than ever before, and can also cause psychological depression and contribute to lower GPA’s and increased substance abuse among college students.  Credit card debt can build up quickly, especially if you have more than one card and a habit of charging everything.

Interest

The interest is the money paid on a balance to a lender by the borrower, which is to be paid every month, if you roll over your balance from month to month. Interest doesn’t usually go down on its own, and when only minimum payments are made your balance can grow to un-manageable amounts.  If you are late on a payment your interest rates can increase to 35 percent, making it very hard to pay off balances.  With interest rates still on the rise, there’s no better time to take a good close look at your finances.

Payment

Debt, especially credit card debt can accumulate very fast and many people soon find themselves barely able to even make the minimum payments.  Remember if you are late on only one payment, your rate could increase drastically.  If you are not good at remembering payments, it’s wise to set up direct debits to pay your credit card bills.  It’s always best to control your spending and try to pay more than the required minimum payment whenever possible.

The main problem with credit cards is that they make it very easy for you to spend money.  The most important step take to reduce credit card debt is to not use your credit card for every little thing, use cash whenever possible.  Studies show credit card debt is higher for males than female debtors, and even higher for joint accounts.  The problem with carrying credit card debt is that the interest on the card will typically accrue much quicker when you only make minimum payments.

Low APR Credit Cards – Selecting the Best

Filed Under (Best credit card deals) by admin on 14-01-2011

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Hunting for and selecting the very best low APR credit cards has become easier with the advent of the Internet where you can do easy comparisons (from the various options available to you at the click of a mouse) as to which low APR credit card will be the best for your needs.

Simply put, low APR credit cards charge you an interest rate even lower than the standard APR offered by most traditional credit cards. The lower the interest rate or APR, the cheaper the card is to carry and the more money you’ll save on it. Easy enough, right? So if you carry a large monthly card balance, a low APR credit card could be very beneficial for you.  In some cases, low rate credit cards can help cardholders save a lot of money. But what’s an APR anyway?

The Rationale of Low APR Credit Cards

The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the cost of credit; it is the amount of interest rate that is chargeable to any outstanding balance on a credit card. If you don’t make the full payment within the grace period certified by the credit card company, the card issuer has the right to charge you an interest rate for the service, a fee known as the APR. For a credit card to be considered a “cheap” credit card it should have a low APR.

With a low APR credit card, there is always fine print in the terms and conditions to take note of. Commonly, consumers fail to read the fine print that might include the following:

1) Annual Fees: Many low APR credit card offers might provide a low interest rate or APR but require you to pay a substantial annual fee. If the effective interest rate (after counting the annual fee) is indeed higher than the actual rate, then this credit card is obviously masked in the garb of a low APR credit card.

2) Low Introductory Rates: Credit card companies know that low introductory rates are a great incentive. So when suddenly, the initial period ends, and your monthly minimum payment increases dramatically, you know something definitely smells fishy. Check it before you fall prey.

3) High Balance Transfer Fees: Another trick in the trade is that some amongst the low APR credit card fraternity offer low balance transfer rates that come with a high balance transfer fee (which would be mentioned in the fine print).

The moral of this story:  Read and re-read the fine print associated with any low APR credit card before you apply.

Want Low Rate Credit Cards?

Follow these simple steps:
-Call the institutions in which you already have a bank account or credit card account. Discuss with them the possibility of converting your existing account to a low rate account.

-If your existing credit card company cannot provide this request, seek out an offer and a card issuer that does.

-Get in touch with the companies you are interested in applying for low rate credit cards.  They might be able to provide information about existing card offers that you might not be aware of.

-Fill out the card application and return as per the instructions. Make a follow-up call to the credit card company if you have not heard from them within the next 10 to 15 business days.

-You have the right to obtain an explanation if the credit card company has turned down your application. The denial letter must explain how you can obtain your credit report.

Keep in mind, however, that credit card issuers reserve the lowest possible interest rate offers for customers with the strongest credit histories, so maintain a good credit history is essential when trying to secure all types of low APR credit cards.

Credit Cards: An Unnecessary Evil

Filed Under (Abbey credit card) by admin on 23-08-2010

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Why are we in debt?  Why is a majority of all people living with debt beyond their means?  We all have debt, this seems to be the nature of life, but why is it that our debt at least equals or exceeds what we can afford?

It is really quite simple.  This is what the credit card companies allow, this is what they want and this is how they make it rich.  The worst part is that they love for us to fall behind.

Everybody likes to get paid on time, but your creditors actually prefer the opposite.  They want you to be late!

Now granted they don’t want you to be too late or to default, but a week or two is just great.  Let’s just think what a late payment means to them.  You are still paying, but you are a week or two late.  Their late fee is $30.  They just made $30 for doing nothing.  You are already maxed out, so this fee puts you over your credit limit.  This earns them another $30 for, again, doing nothing.

You can now make your minimum payment of $20.  The math does not work in your favor.  Let’s just say that you have $15 in interest for the month.  Your total costs are; $15 in interest + $30 late fee + $30 over limit fee = $75 charged to your account.  You pay $20, which leaves you $55 worse than when you started and you have nothing to show for it.

This is why credit cards are evil and we must learn to do without them!

The first step in this process is to gather up all of your credit cards and destroy them.  You can save one or two, but get rid of the rest.  Just pick the ones with the lowest interest rates and preferably no annual fee.  Store your select few in a safe place that is not easily accessible.

This may seem extreme, but most people do not have the will power to simply not use the card.  They look at their statement, see $50 or $100 dollars in available credit and look at it as free money.  There is no such thing.

If you can’t bring yourself to cutting up your cards, at least gather them all up and store them somewhere that would take some effort to get to.  A safe deposit box is always a good idea.  You can also have someone that you trust hold on to them or hide them.

The key is to not have them accessible for those impulse purchases that we come across every day.  Once we pass the moment, chances are that we will realize that we don’t need to make that purchase or probably forgot about it all together.  We are now even closer to getting out of debt.

Don’t forget to cancel the cards that you are no longer going to use.  Most credit cards have an annual fee, anywhere from $30 to $100.  This is wasted money that you can use to apply towards the balance.

Some cards may charge you a closed account fee to persuade you to stay with them.  At this time you need to analyze the impact.  I recently cancelled a card that is charging me $3.50 a month in closed account fees.  My annual fee is $59.  12 months at $3.50 is $42.  I am still ahead of the game by $17, or more, if I pay it off within a year.  The most important part is that there is no way that I can use that card again and worsen my situation.

Now that the temptation is out of the way you can start paying them off.  Just remember to pay at least the minimum, pay all accounts on time, and stop using credit.  Now step back and enjoy the road to financial freedom.

Credit Card Debt and Interest

Filed Under (Abbey credit card) by admin on 30-06-2010

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Credit card debt is one of the leading cause for needing to file for bankruptcy or take out mortgage loans on your home or other drastic measures.  Studies indicate that credit card debt is slowly making a consumers financial situation bad or worse than ever before, and can also cause psychological depression and contribute to lower GPA’s and increased substance abuse among college students.  Credit card debt can build up quickly, especially if you have more than one card and a habit of charging everything.

Interest

The interest is the money paid on a balance to a lender by the borrower, which is to be paid every month, if you roll over your balance from month to month. Interest doesn’t usually go down on its own, and when only minimum payments are made your balance can grow to un-manageable amounts.  If you are late on a payment your interest rates can increase to 35 percent, making it very hard to pay off balances.  With interest rates still on the rise, there’s no better time to take a good close look at your finances.

Payment

Debt, especially credit card debt can accumulate very fast and many people soon find themselves barely able to even make the minimum payments.  Remember if you are late on only one payment, your rate could increase drastically.  If you are not good at remembering payments, it’s wise to set up direct debits to pay your credit card bills.  It’s always best to control your spending and try to pay more than the required minimum payment whenever possible.

The main problem with credit cards is that they make it very easy for you to spend money.  The most important step take to reduce credit card debt is to not use your credit card for every little thing, use cash whenever possible.  Studies show credit card debt is higher for males than female debtors, and even higher for joint accounts.  The problem with carrying credit card debt is that the interest on the card will typically accrue much quicker when you only make minimum payments.

Debt Elimination - 3 Ways To Eliminate And Reduce Credit Card Debt

Filed Under (Abbey credit card) by admin on 02-04-2010

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When you are in over your head with credit card debt, relief can seem miles away. Sometimes it seems like you are working as hard as you can to make the minimum payments or even to just barely cover the interest on your balances.If you want to get out of the cycle of credit card debt follow these 3 easy steps and you will be on your way to financial freedom.

1. Switch to a lower rate card.

If you can switch your balance from a higher rate card to a lower rate card, you can save quite a bit of money. Even a card with a 5% lower interest rate will make a difference on the amount you owe on your monthly credit card statement. Take the money you save and apply it to the balance to reduce your debt even faster.

2. Pay on the principle.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of just paying the minimum payment on your credit card statement, but if you make a practice of this, you will never get out of debt. The only way to eliminate credit card debt is to plunge in and pay it off. The more you pay on the principle the less you will be paying in interest, and you will start to see a difference in the amount of money you are being billed each month.

3. Don’t add to your debt.

Make it a rule that the credit cards are only used for special or emergency purchases. Stop buying things like groceries or clothes using your credit card. Chances are if you are going to put an item on the card, you will often end up buying things you hadn’t planned to buy. These impulse buys may be convenient, but they add up, and you will be paying for them long after their usefulness is gone.