Today the choice of credit cards is so wide that choosing only one can be really challenging. The one deal, appropriate for you, can differ a lot from the rest. We would like to offer you six questions which will help you to determine the right credit deal to save your money.
Are you a student?
If you are a high school or a college student, you may apply for a student credit card. Most probably your credit card application will be approved, no matter what your credit score is. However, you'd better contact the issuing bank for the information before applying.
Do you need to transfer your balance from one card to another?
If you do, you should search for a special balance transfer card. These cards offer lower APR (Annual Percentage Rate is the total cost of your loan expressed as interest rate) for balance transfers. Credit cards with low APR on balance transfers are a great idea, although they are a good base for fraudsters. Are you going to make large purchases?
You are a shopping lover, so you will like the deals with low APR on purchases. If you really intend to make large purchases, you will love to get bonus points for these purchases. By the way, consider the grace period, which is different for every card. Grace period is a period during which you can pay off your debt without any extra charges, or you do not have to pay at all, if you can't. Usually grace period lasts for 10-28 days.
Do you pay off your debt in full every month?
If you have enough money or your credit card is only for an emergency, you can pay off a bill in full every time you get it. In this case, chose the deals with introductory zero APR or grace period. You will be able to pay off your balance and not to worry about rates. Do you mind to pay fees?
Very often the issuers charge various fees. And sometimes they can be really high. There are enough of them: annual fees, cash advance fees, balance transfer fees, foreign exchange fees, setup fees, penalty fees... Of course, not all of them are charged, but some (for example, cash advance fee) are charged always. Moreover, some issuers can charge a fee no matter whether you use your plastic or not.
Do you require a good Customer Service?
Sometimes this can be quite an important issue. In some cases, for example, in case of loss of your card or if there is any charge you would like to dispute, etc. you may need such a service. By the way, you probably need a friendly and competent service. So, search for the right bank with great reputation and with really helpful customer service.
An Emergency Fund in Action: Our $500 Weekend
Direct your browser to just about any personal finance blog, and you’ll be able to find at least one post about emergency funds: why you should have one, how to build it, when you should start, and exactly how much (or how little) you should sock away. What I don’t see a lot of is emergency funds being used for, you know, emergencies. (A planned car purchase is not an emergency.) Maybe they don’t have many emergencies, or perhaps personal finance bloggers aren’t willing to admit it when their warranties expire. Whatever. Here’s some real life for you.Since the day we bought this house, the to-do list has included replacement of the basement door. It’s warped and in sad shape. The jam is a little rotten, and it lets in water during really heavy rain. Still, it opens and closes and behaves in a sufficiently door-like manner that we weren’t all THAT worried about it, until today. Today, that basement door went from a “to-do” to a “to-do now“. You see, Friday night, Boo (the resident cat and benevolent overlord) caught a mouse.For Boo, this isn’t a particularly unusual act. She’s a retired member of a hardware store extermination team, and it probably felt pretty good to shake the dust off the old stalk-n-pounce skills. She is a master mouser. For us, this isn’t so good. Nobody wants mice in their house. It’s just… oooky. *shivers*Dani did some research, and we poked around our basement, and decided that the first important step was to either fix or replace the back door to eliminate the wide gap at the bottom (and the ham-handed repairs of the previous owner). If you have mice, it seems, the first step to eliminating them is to cut off their points of entry. If you have any sort of holes in your house, it’s recommended that you stuff them with steel wool — apparently, mice don’t like the texture, so they won’t chew through it. Mice can enter the house through any hole larger than a US dime — like the yawning gap under our basement door.
Protect yourself against identity theft09Apr08
Identity theft is when someone uses, without permission, your personal information in order to commit any frauds or crimes. Identity theft is a felony that is becoming more and more common. That is because some of us are not very careful with personal information, making the job easier for those trying to steel our identity. We should always be careful with information like Social Security number, credit card number, birth date, employment information, driver’s license number, etc., because if they enter into the wrong hands the consequences can be very serious. People that have experienced identity theft spend months trying to repair what others have damaged, and in the meantime they cannot get a loan or lose a job opportunity or, sometimes, they can get arrested for something they didn’t do.
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