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Credit Cards

5 Credit Card Debt Management Tips

Falling into the credit card debt trap is all too easy in the world today. Many companies advertise their credit cards as the ultimate solution to your financial struggle, but reckless use of credit can dig you into a deeper hole than ever before. Use your credit wisely, and don’t let it control your life. These credit card debt management tips will help you take back control of your finances, one step at a time.

Go Above the Minimum Payment
Every credit card comes with a minimum required monthly payment to which you agree when you sign your contract. Monthly payments are usually relatively low, allowing you repay your debts at an easy pace. However, that easy pace leads to quick accumulation of debt. If you want to keep your debt under control, one of the best things you can do is go above the minimum monthly payment. Even if it’s just a few dollars above the minimum, you’ll be making faster progress on eliminating your debt and returning balance to your finances.

March 20, 2013

Credit Cards

Should You Try To Consolidate Credit Card Debt?

The general consensus these days is that carrying debt on multiple credit cards is a big no-no. In fact, having several credit cards tends to be a bad idea for most people most of the time, simply because we are raised with a consumer mentality that urges us to continue spending even if we are living beyond our means. Further, we are usually not well trained in how to budget, plan, save, or otherwise manage our finances, making it easy to get into debt but much harder to dig our way out. And while credit cards will certainly try to entice you with hooks like zero interest payments for the first year, extra discounts at the stores for which you hold particular cards, or reward programs that deliver discount or free travel with points, the truth is that all of them encourage you to spend your money before you’ve even earned it. So while it’s definitely a good idea to have a card on hand for emergency situations, a multitude of cards could get you into hot water rather quickly, especially if you’re not particularly good at controlling your urge to splurge.

This brings us back to the question of whether or not to consolidate debt, and generally speaking, debt consolidation is an excellent idea for a number of reasons. For one thing, you’re bound to have certain credit cards that come with much lower interest rates. So transferring debt from a card with a higher rate will help you to save on your interest payments in the long run. As a bonus, once you have transferred all of the debt off the card with less attractive options you can cancel the account and cut up your card, alleviating the temptation to use it in the future. In addition to paying down your debt faster as a means of ditching the cards that charge greater interest, you might also want to plan to get rid of the cards with the highest limits. If you have a problem controlling your spending, a lower limit is bound to get you into less trouble.

February 21, 2013

Debt

5 Ways For College Students To Build Credit

College is an exciting time for students like you all over the world. As you take your first major steps into the adult world, one thing that you’ll need to consider is how to start building financial independence. Building good credit now will be a great benefit to you in the years to come. Your college years are great times to start building credit, but you’ll need to be careful and responsible in order to reap the rewards.

Start By Piggybacking
It will be difficult for many students to obtain their first credit cards without a cosigner. One great way to get a head start on the credit game is to become authorized on a parent’s credit account. This is known as piggybacking, and it allows you to start building good credit by using your parent’s account. This will also allow your parents to monitor your spending and make sure that you’re not being too reckless in your habits.

February 18, 2013

Credit Cards

The Most Common Reasons That Credit Card Applications Get Denied

Have you been looking to get a credit card? If so, you’re certainly not alone. Each year, credit card companies make millions and millions of dollars due to the astronomical amount of people who have one of their cards. In some ways, a credit card can make life more convenient when it comes to booking reservations and making large purchases. Plus, if you have a good payment history, it can do wonders when it comes to boosting up your credit (that is if you use it responsibly).

For these reasons, it could be wise to apply for a credit card. However, before you do, we wanted to provide you with five of the most common reasons why credit card applications are denied, just so that you can be prepared ahead of time:

You didn’t complete the application. In school, some of us were told that we could get a few points just for making sure we put our name on the top of our papers. It was partially to prepare us for filling out things like credit card applications. When vital information is missing, you will definitely be denied. Just something to keep in mind.

January 15, 2013

Credit Cards

The Benefits And Dangers Of A Student Credit Card

The Pros And Cons Of A Student Credit Card

There are plenty of ways that a student could benefit from obtaining a student credit card. It is a great way to begin learning how to properly budget your finances to avoid debt. At the same time, debt may be the very reason a student would want to avoid a credit card. It is known that many credit card companies wish to provide cards to student with the understanding that they would use it irresponsibly. That may not sound beneficial for the credit card company, but the truth is that a card user in debt is worth more to the credit card company than someone who pays their monthly amount without hesitation. The credit industry is very different than it once was.

September 21, 2012

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