Practical Tips To Manage Your Credit Cards Wisely
Posted at by CreditWiz on category Credit CardsWhile you will always need physical cash, credit cards represent the future of your money exchanging. As banks start raising fees for accounts and debit cards, many people are using credit for more and more of their money transactions and money storage needs. Read more to learn about the growing industry of credit cards.
Don’t use credit as an excuse to buy items that are outside your price range. While it is fine to use them for items you may afford later, you should avoid using credit to purchase big ticket items that you are going to run into problems paying for.
It is a good practice to have more then one credit card. This helps build up your credit, particularly if you pay your cards in full monthly. However, if you open more than three, it may not look good to a lender when they pull your credit bureau report.
Report any fraudulent charges on your credit cards as soon as you see them. Taking immediate action gives you the highest probability of stopping the charges and catching the culprit. This also helps absolve you of responsibility when it comes to the charges. Fraudulent charges can usually be reported by making a phone call or sending an email to the credit card company.
Many people handle credit cards incorrectly. While there are situations in which people cannot avoid going into debt, some simply abuse their cards and rack up payments they cannot afford. To handle credit cards, correctly pay off your balance each month. This will allow you to use your credit cards while maintaining a low balance and raising your credit score.
Make sure you know what your interest rate will be with a given credit card. You should never sign up for any credit card without knowing the interest rate. If you are unaware, you may end up paying far more than the initial price. This may result in your inablilty to pay off your credit cards monthly.
Set a fixed budget you can stick with. Just because you have a limit on your credit card that the company has given you does not mean that you have to max it out. Understand the amount of money that you can pay off each month and only spend that amount so you do not incur interest fees.
As soon as your credit card arrives in the mail, sign it. This will protect you should your credit card get stolen. A lot of stores have the cashiers make sure that the signature on the card matches the one on the receipt.
You should limit your search for new cards to those that don’t have annual fees and that offer low interest rates. With such a large number of cards that offer no annual fee, it is pointless to get a card that does require one.
If you cannot afford something, don’t put it on a credit card. Even though you really want that new flat-screen television, credit cards are not necessarily the smartest way to purchase it. Remember that the charge will result in the necessary payment of interest, and it might even result in late fees being added to your account when you cannot afford to make an appropriate payment. Leave the store, think over it for a day or so, and then make your decision. If you do decide to make the purchase, see if the store offers financing that is usually lower interest than your credit card.
Don’t put your pin or password to paper, no matter what the circumstances. Keep it stored in your head so that nobody else can access it. Writing the pin number down, and having it in the same place as your card, will give anyone access to it if they want it.
Credit cards are fast becoming the preferred method of payment for most people as debit cards are becoming more regulated. Given the expansion and growth in this area, you could also benefit from the perks that credit cards can give. To maximize this potential, use the information you have discovered in the article.