|
|
|
Crushing Credit Card Debt
How much do YOU owe on your credit cards? The average American family is now over $7000 in debt just on their credit cards. That debt generates an interest charge of over $105 each month if your card charges the average 18%. If you have missed a...
Debt consolidation – More Options for Reducing Credit Card Costs
Borrowing money against your credit cards has always been among the most expensive ways to borrow money, and when you fail to pay your bill in full each month, borrowing is exactly what you’re doing. You’re not alone; the average American household...
SuperCharged Secret 5 - LIVING IN CREDIT CARD UTOPIA!!!!!
5 SuperCharged Secrets to Credit Card Utopia! Secret 5 of 5 LIVING IN CREDIT CARD UTOPIA Let’s just take a brief moment to recap: If you’ve been following along on this journey with me, learning the 5 Super-Charged secrets to Credit Card Utopia,...
The best time to repair your credit is now
By the time you become interested in credit, two things have
probably already happened:
1) Your credit is bad, and has been for sometime
2) You want something in life like a new car or house and your
poor credit is preventing...
The Credit Inquiry; A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
To the average consumer the most innocent item on their credit
report is the credit inquiry, but in-fact it is, to coin a
phrase " a wolf in sheep's clothing." Although the credit
inquiry is just a potential creditors look into a...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Credit Rewards Card Shark -- Rake in the Money
A good credit reward card can contribute to your retirement account, offer gas
rebates, score theme-park or vacation tickets or take thousands off the
price of your next auto purchase. Rewards at hotels, airlines, and retailers
bring more to the possibilities but, adds to the confusion. Here are some
tips to find the best reward programs for you to increase your buying power.
Who should apply for reward cards?
It used to be that if you pay off your balance each month, reward cards
are definitely worth considering. But now, many have come out with very
competitive interest rates below 10 percent, so if your credit is good
enough to qualify, you need not necessarily discount a rewards card, unless
it hinders you from paying down your balance in any way.
Invest some time to maximize payoff
Anyone who wants to get the best deal must patiently compare offers,
then manage them consistently afterwards. Scrutinize spending to give maximum
rebate value for the dollar.
Flyer miles
Frequent-flier miles were the first comers of the rebate credit cards.
They typically value at 1% to 2% rebate or one mile per dollar spent, so
choose the ones that offer the highest return. For a comparison list of
airline mileage cards, see SpyFind's Airline Rewards Finder.
Some airline cards have a “use it or lose it” policy, as do many “travel
rewards” or "hotel rewards". If it will take you a long time to earn your reward, you will want to make sure it will be there for you. American Express, for
example, has programs that never expire and provides miles that, can be
used on a number of different airlines. If you travel different airlines
but need a Visa or MasterCard (accepted by more merchants), you can choose
a bank-issued “travel awards” card.
About auto rewards
“The ‘car cards,’ for example, tend to be the most generous reward
cards in terms of what percentage rebate you earn -- but the reward has
its limits. The GM Card lets you earn 5% toward the purchase or lease of one of its vehicles, but then yields how much you are allowed to apply to a given vehicle. Only
$1,000 in rebate awards currently can be redeemed on a new Hummer or Corvette,
for example, while $3,000 can be used to purchase a Silhouette minivan”,
according to Liz Pulliam Weston of MSN Money. See, SpyFind's
Auto Rewards
Finder.
If you want more freedom in the type of car you would like to purchase
then consider the CitiDriver’s Edge Platinum Select Card, which gives you a 1% rebate, up to $500 per year, toward the purchase of any new or used car.
You can always swap to another card rebate program after you have reached
the maximum reward to keep the discounts and continue to charge more.
Calculate your spending to make the rewards worthwhile
If you charge $3,000 a year on a card that costs $45 annually, for
example, it will take over 6 years to earn a free airline ticket with most
cards. In that time, you will have paid $270 in fees -- enough to buy a
discounted air ticket on your own.
Get cold hard cash
The easiest way to accumulate true savings is by taking advantage of
no-fee cash-back cards. You will want to choose a card that gives you at
least a full 1% back; such as, Chase Platinum PerfectCard. Or, 5% to 10% with increased spending or
used with participating merchants and retailers; such as, Blue
Cash from American Express. See SpyFind's
Cash Rewards Finder.
Also, retail
reward cards, provide higher rates of earning at in-store shopping.
The Toys R Us Visa, for example, has no annual fee and its 1% cash back rises
to 5% when you use it to make purchases at any Toys R Us.
With ever increasing gas prices, you can receive higher rates of earnings
at gas stations. Through the Chase
Platinum PerfectCard reward program, cardholders earn a 3% rebate on
all gasoline purchases. See SpyFind's
Gas Rewards Finder, for more.
Entertain yourself
Disney and Universal
have credit cards that give you points toward theme-park tickets, movies
and other great stuff.
For greatest flexibility, the cleanest reward is "cash back"—not a gift
certificate but real, use-anywhere money.
About the Author
James Banks serves as valuable team contributor to the SpyFind Information
Network, SpyFind.com.
Areas of expertise include both credit and financial advice. To view
more related material, vist SpyFind's
Credit Center,
http://www.spyfind.com/credit.html
|
|
|
|
|
| Credit Reports - Credit Cards - Car Loans - Home Loans - Credit.com |
| Credit.com offers a variety of credit related products and services including credit reports and credit scores, credit cards, car loans, home loan and ... |
| www.credit.com |
|
| Equifax Personal Solutions: Credit Reports, Credit Scores ... |
| National consumer credit reporting company that offers credit reports, FICO(R) credit scores and identity theft protection products to consumers and small ... |
| www.equifax.com |
|
| The FTC's web site on Credit |
| Credit is much more than a piece of plastic, and the resources on this site can help you become a more savvy consumer. You’ll also find compliance ... |
| www.ftc.gov |
|
| Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Credit Center |
| Features an assortment of helpful articles related to credit issues. |
| www.ftc.gov |
|
| AnnualCreditReport |
| Site set up by the big three credit reporting agencies in the United States, to furnish free annual credit reports, as required by federal law. |
| www.annualcreditreport.com |
|
| Springboard - Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management |
| Our mission is simple: To offer education on the wise use of credit. ... SPRINGBOARD has been approved to provide credit counseling services and issue ... |
| www.credit.org |
|
| myFICO - FICO Credit Scores, Online Credit Reports and Identity ... |
| myFICO.com: Get your Free credit report and Free credit score with a 30-day trial of Score Watch. All three FICO Scores and Credit Reports Available now ... |
| www.myfico.com |
|
| Credit Suisse Global |
| Credit Suisse Group is an international financial services group. - Shares part of SMI. |
| www.credit-suisse.com |
|
| Experian: Free Credit Report and Credit Score, Credit Check ... |
| Credit referencing and consumer targeting for the USA and other countries. |
| www.experian.com |
|
| National Credit Union Administration - Home Page |
| An independent federal agency that supervises and insures 7152 federal credit unions and insures 4240 state-chartered credit unions. |
| www.ncua.gov |
|
| Credit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debits and Credits, a type of bookkeeping entry; Credit (creative arts), acknowledging the ideas or ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit" ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Credit (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Any movement of financial capital is normally quite dependent on credit, ... Sometimes if a person has financial instability or difficulty, credit is not ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| The National Foundation for Credit Counseling |
| DebtAdvice.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit ... |
| www.nfcc.org |
|
| FreeCreditReport.com | Free Credit Report and Credit Score Online ... |
| FreeCreditReport.com: Free credit reports and credit scores from Experian. Get your free credit report and credit score now. It's free, fast, and easy! |
| www.freecreditreport.com |
|
| Compare credit cards | apply for a credit card | 0% balance ... |
| Compare over 300 credit cards, including 0% offers and balance transfers, and make a credit card application online... |
| www.moneysupermarket.com |
|
| Ford Credit - Auto financing for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars ... |
| Ford Credit provides auto financing to finance a lease or purchase a car or truck through Ford, Lincoln or Mercury dealerships. |
| www.fordcredit.com |
|
| The Credit Card Prank |
| In my lifetime, I have made nearly 15000 credit card transactions. ... Credit card signatures are a useless mechanism designed to make you feel safe, ... |
| www.zug.com |
|
| Credit magazine, corporate bonds, derivatives, structured credit ... |
| Credit magazine provides information on the international credit markets for credit investors, issuers and market professionals. |
| www.creditmag.com |
|
| CUNA: The Credit Union National Association |
| News and resource directory about credit unions. |
| www.cuna.org |
|
| Credit/Debt Management - Tools and Advice for Managing Credit and Debt |
| Drowning in debt? Trying to improve your credit score? This is the place for you. Get real world information and tips, as well as the legal low down, ... |
| credit.about.com |
|
|