Credit Card Basic Knowledge

Is your credit card maxed out? Are you in need of credit card advice? Tens of thousands of Americans are drowning in credit card debt. But you don’t need to be one of them. Some important information has surfaced for credit card holders who are in desperate need of some good credit card advice. The debt on your card isn’t totally your fault you know? Since the almost collapse of the economy in 2007, money has been tight, and bills are usually last to get taken care of. Here’s some credit card advice to help you keep your debt at a minimum and your wallet fuller.

Cut your cards up! Yes, I said it! Once you cut your cards up into little pieces, just pay off the remaining charges, overcharges, and balances. When you take the step of completely ridding yourself of your own debt burden, you will feel free from all tethers. Once the cards are paid off (in due time), you will see your credit score improve considerably. Credit companies won’t tell you this, but it can be a very effective way of improving your financial position. Then once your credit score has improved you can then apply for a credit card with much lower interest rates than you were incurring previously.

If cutting up your cards isn’t an option, you might want to try putting them somewhere where you will forget about them, and hopefully use them less. Or you can give them to a trusted friend of family member. They should keep your card safe and prevent you from using them for unnecessary purchases. Often, card holders are their own worst enemies, and they don’t know when to say no.

Never under any circumstance should you cancel your cards. When you cancel your cards, you usually pay a double or triple disconnection fee. This disconnection fee could amount to thousands of dollars that you have to pay when it’s all said and done. These fees, if not paid off in a timely fashion, can hurt your credit score. Once the damage is done, it is very hard to reverse the damage done, and it can take up to seven years to repair your credit. In that time frame no other credit companies will accept your credit score. You may not be able to get a new car or buy a house. Even employers are now looking at credit scores before hiring employees, to see if they can trust you, and to see if you are responsible. So it is very important to make sure you maintain or improve your credit score constantly.

This advice is not that hard to follow. Using cards can be an impulse decision, or almost like an addiction to some. The best credit card advice to give is to not get a card until you can afford the payments. Ask yourself this question: If you were to lose your job tomorrow, could you handle the repayments?

These days everyone needs a credit or debit card to not only make purchases but to book airline tickets, reserve hotel rooms, and lease cars while traveling. You will need to decide between a debit card vs credit card. There are many advantages of both cards, this article will look at some of these advantages to help you decide what type of card is right for you.

One advantage of using a debit card opposed to a credit card is that if your place of employment offers direct deposit, your paycheck can be credited to your debit card. This can also be done with social security and unemployment deposits. This gives people access to money much faster that waiting for a check in the mail and then having to deposit or cash it at a bank. The direct deposit also avoids a check casing fee that some banks and check cashing stores charge. The disadvantage is the debit cards charge a transaction fee every time you use your debit card. The fee varies from card to card and is usually around $3.00 per purchase. No matter how large or small the purchase the fee is the same.

There is a big advantage of using a credit card instead of debit or savings when buying gasoline at the pump. When using a debit card some gas stations will put a $50 hold on your debit card for up to a week. This does not happen when using a credit card.

Debit card and credit card use has many advantages and disadvantages. Credit is great if you always pay your balance before the payment due date is posted to avoid fees and interest charges. Few people do this however and this makes credit cards a bad option for most people making purchases, as they will end up having to pay a considerable amount of interest on top of their purchase amount. The advantage to using a debit card in this same scenario is; the debit card does not incur interest, since it is backed up by the amount of cash that has been “loaded” onto it, you cannot go over your limit and never pay interest on a purchase.

Another comparison of debit use vs credit use is that credit purchases affect your credit rating and credit scores, and debit purchases don’t. The advantage of conservative credit card use and paying on time is that it will greatly improve a person’s credit score rating. On the other hand, misuse of a credit card will harm a person’s credit rating, and effect future requests for credit, such as; different credit cards and applying for home and auto loans. The way a person treats their credit can also affect the rates they are quoted for car insurance and the amount they will pay in rent at corporate owned and operated apartment complexes.

When it comes to the question of debit vs credit, the answer might be that both are good to have for their own reasons. And always use both wisely, if you are financially conservative then you will be able to handle a credit card easily, if you are somewhat financially reckless then you should probably limit how much you use credit and focus more on making your purchases with savings.