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Using
credit cards in a seriouse business, they should be treated
with care and "respect" you don't need to pay
them hommage but they should not be treated as a toy as
they can either make your life easy or take over your life.
With
so many offers on the market most people have a credit card.
For most they make life easier as they can pay for things
without carring money and they can be paid off at the end
of the month. However, some people treat them as Free Money
and free money they are not. The word credit can be defined
by "A trust or a promise to pay later for goods or
services purchased today." Many people forget about
the paying back bit or simply don't worry about it. This
leads millions into debt every year and in many situations
it is avoidable.
There
are a number of points that can help you keep on track with
your credit card and help prevent it giving you a bad credit
history.
What
is your cards limit?- You should make sure you know the
limit of your credit card, especially if you have more than
one. If you don't know your limit you are spending blind
and may end up getting knoced back for purchases if you
reach it. For many this can cause a problem with cash flow.
Recurring
charges? - You should make sure you keep a track of when
recurring charges are made, this type of charge often comes
off your card every month in order to pay for services such
as subscriptions. If you don't keep a track of them and
forget when they are charged you won't know what to budget
yourself when shopping and they can add up overtime to an
amount which is hard to reduce
Track
your spending - In order to know what you owe and what you
have left to spend on your credit card it is a good idea
to track your purchases, this may be difficult whilst shopping
but you should keep your reciepts and write them down when
you get home. These should be cross referenced with you
credit card statements so that you can check the correct
charges have been made and no false payments have been made.
You should also remember not to trust your credit card company,
they make mistakes every day with interest charges etc and
they need watching.
What
is the minimum payment? -Different cards have different
minimum repayments that have to be made or charges will
normally be applied. If you keep missing them you can have
problems. Ensure you know what yours is and budget for it
accordingly.
Offers
change and so do cards- credit card offers change, many
cards have introductory offers of low percentage interest
and then revert to a higher than normal interest rate, you
should ensure you know when your offers run out and know
the consequences to your budget, if it is better to switch
then compare what is on offer on the market.
Too
many cards - Some people live by the etos that you can never
have too many credit cards; well, you can. If you are not
good at keeping a track of spending it can become a nightmare
to track many different cards. They all need paying on time
and all have varying offers that run out at different times.
If you miss payments this can lead to bad credit over time.
The less cards you have the less work they are to manage.
Us
Residents may also want to see
FTC
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