subject: How To Know If Credit Card Companies Are Good For You [print this page] The majority of the Americans has just under $10,000 dollars of credit card debt. We are eager for things we are not able to manage to pay for and have a sense of entitlement although the money is certainly not there. Thus we make use of our credit cards to get things with money we never have. Yet there are times when credit cards are beneficial for you. With credit card debt, it truly is actually about what kind of interest rate you have on you credit cards. How much is your credit card debt costing you is the most significant matter. In case it is certainly not costing you much money therefore you could possibly be in ok shape. Sure, there are occasions when credit card companies are very good for you.
If you have credit cards and are aware of what your rate is you happen to be on a much more desirable way to debt relief then in case you really don't know what your money is charging you. As a matter of fact I have about $7,000 in credit card debt. I often switch jobs and had to make use of them for my daily purchases. Nonetheless contrary to most folks in credit card debt, I am entirely mindful of simply how much that credit card debt is costing me. The answer...Zero.
I have a balance on two cards. Both of the credit cards are at 0%. Now don't get this twisted up. These card aren't going to be at zero % interest forever. This is part of how the credit card companies make money. What the banks are doing is offering me a 0% interest rate for the first year on the card. This is enticing. After that year the cards will jump up to a much higher rate. There are two hopes of the banks with an offer like this. Reason one is that the credit card companies are hoping that I will miss a payment or make one late. When you miss a credit card payment or make one late, you can be sure that your rate will go up. They are hoping that you will mess this up. Most do. One thing I noticed is that while the credit card companies make the introductory rates very visible. They make it very hard for you to find out when the actual payment is due. This is a sneaky but effective move. Most people get the notice when it is too late.
The second part is that they assume that you will forget when your "introductory rate" will expire. So that once you hit the end of that time period, your rate jumps up dramatically. But here is the good news. If you are on the ball and know when the rate is going to jump up, you can be prepared for it. I always keep an eye on the mail box for a new "0% APR" offer so that I can do a balance transfer before I have to pay the higher rate. This is the beauty of competition. Companies want you to switch to their card in the hopes that you will mess up. Yes, other credit card offers are a good thing for you. The banks can tell if you have been doing well on your payments and target you with their better offer.
Something I would search for on the new credit card offers is the APR on balance transfers. Some really have 0% APR on balance transfers. This is perfect because it does not cost you anything at all to move your money. Nevertheless this is not usually the solution. In the event that a company provides a 3% apr on balance transfers, however you rate is about to go to 15%, TAKE the 3%. It's still much better than getting hammered with the 15% if you stayed around. Utilize the credit card companies to obtain debt relief. Discover how to eliminate credit card debt with debt relief programs like virginia debt relief and michigan debt relief as they will assist free you from your credit card debts.