Need More Credit Card Relief
February 17th, 2006 by ert
When looking to reduce your credit card debt, most of the time you have to find someone who can guide you in reducing and eliminating the debt.
CCCS has given some more tips on reducing and eliminating your credit card balances.
1. Shop around for the best deal.
Don’t just accept whatever pre-approved cards arrive in your mailbox. If you have excellent credit, look for the lowest rate as well as for cash-back rebates, frequent-flier miles, free gasoline, or donations to college savings plans. If you have spotty credit, find cards that have the lowest costs. Watch out for monthly and annual fees, application fees, processing fees, and excessively high interest rates. Even secured cards have varying costs. Compare the many offers on websites such as Bankrate.com and Cardweb.com.
2. Check the fine print. What are the late fees and over-the-limit fees?
What is the grace period? Is the interest rate variable or fixed? Most importantly, read the slips that come with your bills. Issuers can usually change the terms with a 15-day notice.
3. Read your bills thoroughly each month.
Watch out for overcharges, phony charges or billing mistakes. You have 60 days to dispute these items, but after that, you’re out of luck.
4. Close zero balance accounts.
If you have accounts you don’t use, close them. This will improve your credit score. Most people don’t need more than 2-3 cards, and extra cards can only help you dig deeper into debt.
5. Beware of the extras.
Credit Insurance may be more expensive than life or disability insurance, and benefits the lender as well as the cardholder. Most people won’t need it. Debt suspension and credit protection programs offer no value to consumers.
To help you manage credit, check your credit reports every year. The interest rates and offers you receive are based on your credit scores and reports. If erroneous material is on your report, it could cause your cardholders to raise your interest rates, even if your cards are in good standing.
Don’t just accept whatever pre-approved cards arrive in your mailbox. If you have excellent credit, look for the lowest rate as well as for cash-back rebates, frequent-flier miles, free gasoline, or donations to college savings plans. If you have spotty credit, find cards that have the lowest costs. Watch out for monthly and annual fees, application fees, processing fees, and excessively high interest rates. Even secured cards have varying costs. Compare the many offers on websites such as Bankrate.com and Cardweb.com.
2. Check the fine print. What are the late fees and over-the-limit fees?
What is the grace period? Is the interest rate variable or fixed? Most importantly, read the slips that come with your bills. Issuers can usually change the terms with a 15-day notice.
3. Read your bills thoroughly each month.
Watch out for overcharges, phony charges or billing mistakes. You have 60 days to dispute these items, but after that, you’re out of luck.
4. Close zero balance accounts.
If you have accounts you don’t use, close them. This will improve your credit score. Most people don’t need more than 2-3 cards, and extra cards can only help you dig deeper into debt.
5. Beware of the extras.
Credit Insurance may be more expensive than life or disability insurance, and benefits the lender as well as the cardholder. Most people won’t need it. Debt suspension and credit protection programs offer no value to consumers.
To help you manage credit, check your credit reports every year. The interest rates and offers you receive are based on your credit scores and reports. If erroneous material is on your report, it could cause your cardholders to raise your interest rates, even if your cards are in good standing.
With credit card debt on the rise in America it’s definitely a good choice to get your personal debt and finances under control. Make the choice today to build wealth and move toward financial freedom.
Relevant Tags: credit card reduction, debt reduction, investing, personal goal settingPosted on Friday, February 17th, 2006 at 5:06 pm In Debt Elimination