Category: Credit Cards

Legal Credit Card Debt Elimination Programs

I can tell you from personal experience that getting buried in credit card debt is one of the most awful feelings you can ever experience. It really feels so hopeless. Once you get to a certain point with your debt – say above $15,000 or $20,000 in credit card balances – and you have this realization that you basically need to win the lottery or inherit money from a rich uncle you don’t know about if you ever want to be free of your debt again. Not much could be worse, and once you get in that situation you may find yourself seeking legal and ethical credit card debt elimination.

It’s a bit of a misconception that there’s some form you can fill out, some government program, that will let you get rid of your credit card debt without any negative repercussions for you. That wouldn’t be fair to the credit card companies. So, if you want to legally eliminate credit card debt it’s going to come down to a negotiation between you and the credit provider. You’ll be negotiating two things: 1) the interest rate they’re charging you on your unpaid balances, and 2) the manual reduction of those balances.

It’s not a pretty situation, but you’re basically saying to the credit card company “look, we can either come to an agreement on how much I’m going to pay you on these balances, and at what interest rate, or I’m going to have to file bankruptcy.” And you’re not bluffing, so the credit provider will have to weigh out whether they want to reduce your balance and get some of their money (maybe 30 cents to 40 cents on the dollar), or whether they’re willing to walk away from their money entirely. It’s common sense that they’d rather get something than nothing, so they’re probably going to work with you.

There will be consequences for you though. For starters, your credit cards will all be canceled (which may not matter if they’re already maxed out anyway). Even worse, your credit score will be destroyed. And that may not be much of a concern because at this point you probably have several late or missed payments and your fico score is in the dumps anyway.

I would ask you this: do you have to go through this process? Have you exhausted all other options? Could you borrow some money from family or friends, use it to get caught up on some payments, and then take on a second job to make it possible to keep up with your debt? I understand you might not be able to do this, but I think as a matter of integrity you should at least try.

Bad Credit Unsecured Credit Cards

With the state of the economy today, many people have had problems keeping up with bills, and have created a bad credit rating for themselves. They may have made purchases while economical conditions were better, not knowing that they might lose their jobs or be receiving less income for some other reason. It seems that once a person is late in making a payment, late fees are added, interest increases, and the debt just snowballs, making it even harder to pay on time the next month. If this has happened to you, don’t despair! It is possible to build up your credit again after a bad experience, using tools like unsecured credit cards for bad credit.

If you would like to have a credit card, but have been unable to obtain one because of your credit history, there may be a solution. You may have thought there was no way anyone would consider approving a credit card application that you might submit, because of your bad credit. Don’t give up though. Apply for a bad credit unsecured credit card. You may be surprised to find that your application will be accepted and you will receive a credit card. With the new credit card rules in effect now, even if you have been turned down before, apply again and you may be approved this time.

There are many companies competing for your business and you should be able to find one that will accept your application. After you get your new card in the mail, be sure to use it wisely. If possible, use it to purchase only necessary items so that your bill will not be too difficult to pay. Try to pay more than the required minimum payment each month, if at all possible. In that way, you will be able to improve your credit rating. If you keep making payments on time, at least the minimum required each month, you will eventually improve your credit rating.

A credit card is such a convenient financial tool. Whether you want to take a vacation, and would feel safer without carrying enough cash to get you through the trip, want to purchase something on line, or need to buy groceries, gasoline or medicine on Tuesday and won’t get paid until Friday, having a credit card is very helpful. After you have had a credit card for a while, you won’t want to be without one, because of the convenience it offers.

Unsecured Credit Cards for Bad Credit – Do They Exist?

Few individuals realize how important maintaining an excellent credit rating is until it is simply too late. Consumers can fall into the bad credit category for a variety of different reasons, but what’s important is that it is entirely possible to start new relationships with lenders and rebuild one’s history in the process. Revolving lines are perhaps the most difficult to obtain, but there are companies that offer unsecured credit cards for bad credit individuals. There are several things a wise consumer can do to increase the chance of being approved for such an account.

An individual should be well aware of any negative items that are present on their credit report. There are many cases in which mistakes have severely impacted a person’s credit score. If any errors are found in any part of the credit history, they can usually be cleared up fairly easily by disputing the incorrect information with each of the three credit bureaus. It may take awhile to correct such information, so it is strongly advised to repair any problems as quickly as possible and definitely before applying for any new accounts.

Many consumers have excellent pay histories on bills such as rent and utilities. However, contrary to popular belief these accounts do not report to the credit bureaus unless there have been severe delinquencies. Individuals can request a letter of reference from their landlords or their utility companies and this letter should include a brief summary of the pay history. A letter of reference normally must be requested in person, but they typically are provided free of charge. Being able to show a good pay history on regular monthly bills can help a person illustrate their reliability and responsibility.

Honesty is highly regarded by most companies and it is imperative that any applications are filled out truthfully. Individuals that exaggerate income or alter employment history are not only less likely to be approved, but they also could face criminal charges if caught. There often is an opportunity to explain past due balances and previous delinquencies, and a person should take full advantage of the chance to build their case.

There are plenty of lenders who offer bad credit unsecured credit cards, but there is a chance that a consumer will still have a difficult time securing such an account. An individual has a much better chance of being approved if they follow the above best practices. If you find you’re not able to get the credit card you want, other financing – like instant decision unsecured personal loans – may be your only option. Credit cards are not inherently evil and can be a valuable tool for daily money management and financial planning. However, a person should be well aware of their spending habits and level of responsibility. There are many companies willing to give second chances, but very few will offer third chances.

Getting a No Credit Credit Card

Even in what is becoming a very tight lending market, it’s still not that hard to get a no credit credit card. Mastercard and Visa, through all their licensed lenders, offer a variety of unsecured, prepaid, and secured credit cards with no credit for people who are either working to establish or repair their credit.

There are even times when one licensee will offer basically identical cards, but one happens to be Visa and the other Mastercard. For example, First Premier Bank offers the Centennial Visa or Mastercard designed specifically for people with no credit. They’re offering benefits such as:

  • 24 hour account access via telephone (but no mention of internet account access until I dug deeper into the terms; then I found out you could pay $3.95 one time fee to have online account access)
  • Low APR on purchases (further investigation revealed that it’s 9.9% – not great, but I’ve seen much worse)
  • Monthly reporting to four major credit agencies (this is the big one – you need them to talk to the credit bureaus if you want to see your credit score steadily climb)
  • A response to your application within 60 seconds (actually this is very fast, so at least you’ll no right away if you’re approved or not)

I had to dig a little deeper to find the fees associated with the card, and I found them to be fairly standard compared to what you’d see with most credit cards with no credit. Right up front you’re going to pay an account setup fee of $29.00, a “program fee” of $95, and an annual fee of $48. They put all those charges on your card immediately, and you’ll begin making payments and accruing interest on that balance from day one.

That can be pretty annoying, but it’s not uncommon in the lending world. It’s almost like this card provider is charging closing costs like you’d have on a home loan, and rolling the closing costs right onto the balance. Maybe the way to go with a card like this is to save up a couple hundred bucks and think of it as ‘buying’ the credit card, so you can pay off that initial balance immediately.

A couple of fees you might not think of beforehand (since you might be new to the credit world, looking for a credit card with no credit check and all that), are the over-limit fee and the late fee. They’re each $29, so you want to avoid those at all cost.

This card offer is pretty typical. It’s expensive, but if you use it right it gets the job done and helps you improve your credit score.

Credit Cards for Bad Credit to Help you Get Started or Rebuild

Let’s take a close look at credit cards for bad credit, because if you sign up for the very first one offered to you I think you’ll probably end up regretting your decision (because you’re going to be paying fees and interest rates that might not have been there with another card). Of course when it comes to choosing a credit card you’re always looking at a few standard criteria, such as annual fee, credit limit, deposit required (if it’s a secured or prepaid card), APR on purchases, cash advance APR, balance transfer offers, and of course the all-important rewards programs.

Not all of those factors are going to come into play with credit cards for people with bad credit. For example, these kinds of cards aren’t typically going to have rewards programs or special offers on balance transfers. These cards are geared more toward people who’ve either really messed up their credit or are just trying to get their foot in the door of the credit world.

The big distinguishing characteristics of this type of card are the fees, the deposit required, and the purchase APR.

You’re likely to see many of these cards start with a 9.9% APR on purchases, which isn’t terrible. If you have some kind of credit, albeit damaged, you can probably get a minimum credit limit of around $250 without a deposit, but the fees are where they’ll get you.

I checked out three different Mastercards for bad credit, and the fee structure just blows my mind. Let me summarize their fee disclosure paragraph from the offer (small amount of sarcasm included):

“If we happen to qualify y0u for a credit card, we’re going to take all our fees for the first year up front. This includes an account set-up fee of $29, a program fee (huh?) of $95, and on top of that we’re sticking you with an annual additional fee of $48. But wait…there’s more! We’re also going to charge you $7 per month for ‘participation.’ All of these charges will be on your first statement, and your available credit will be whatever happens to be left over when we’re done with you. If your credit limit is $250, you’ll be left with the grand sum of $71 available on your card.”

Kind of hilarious right? But let’s keep this in perspective. Credit card providers have to make money, and as a no credit or bad credit applicant you pose a big risk. They’re giving you credit and immediately getting monthly payments from as a way of protecting their bottom line. This is the cost of establishing, or rebuilding, your credit score. If you’re smart you only have to ‘pay to play’ once. After this initiation into the world of credit you’ll have your shiny new fico score to get you low fees and interest rates on anything you borrow.

Finding a No Credit Check Credit Card

Part of becoming an adult is establishing your credit. As much as we’d all love never having to borrow money for anything we need, that’s just not realistic. If you want to own a home or a car, you probably have to have credit (well, I supposed you don’t have to borrow for cars, but most people aren’t willing to save enough to buy the car they want, and they’re not willing to drive the car they could actually pay cash for). So you’re going to need some credit, which means you need to use the right tools to help you start building your credibility as a borrower. A no credit check credit card is going to be one of those tools.

Let’s be clear about what credit cards with no credit check are. They’re not high limit cards; they’re very low limit. They’re not fee free cards, they almost always come with fees. And they’re usually not unsecured cards; they’re usually prepaid or secured. So, you’re going to be paying for this credit building tool, and it’s not going to be glamorous. We’re not talking about an Amex Black card you see the rich folks and the celebrities walking around with.

Essentially what’s happening here is the credit card provider is saying “you have no experience with credit, and there’s no proof or even evidence that lending to you is a good idea. We’ll give you a card that allows you to borrow up to the amount you keep on deposit with us, and then we’ll watch how you use it. If you’re smart about it we’ll start to bump up your privileges with the card and eventually allow you to use the card beyond the amount of your security deposit.”

This is one of the real ironies of building up your credit with a no credit credit card. The more effectively you do it, the more easy it becomes to bury yourself in credit card debt. Don’t make that mistake. I personally don’t think it’s a bad idea to have a couple of credit cards with high limits, but you want them there strictly for emergencies. There’s no reason at all to get in the habit of actually using these cards or carrying a balance.

So yes, you need credit, and getting credit cards with no credit can help you make your name with the credit agencies. You really just need to be so careful about how you do it because credit can either be your best friend or your absolute worst enemy, and you get to decide which.

Poor Credit Credit Cards

At a certain point a person who has damaged his or her credit has to decide when to say enough is enough. Now, I’m not saying that the person should avoid all credit completely, but I do think they should seriously evaluate the ways they’ve used credit in the past and make some observations about what circumstances ruined their credit to begin with. Only after they’ve made the effort to figure out where they’ve gone wrong in the past, as well as a commitment to improving in the future, should they start thinking about rebuilding their credit and using it again. And when they’re ready for that, poor credit credit cards are probably not a bad way to go.

In the spirit of full disclosure the first thing we should say is that credit cards for poor credit are not free…they’re not even cheap. The price of a ticket to this game usually starts off with annual fees (charged by the card provider just to keep the account open), ‘program fees’ (usually between $50 and $80, charged by the card provider. These fees basically mean “you might flake out, and we’re going to get some money to hedge our risk”), and additional card fees (only charged if you and your spouse/significant other are both trying to rebuild your credit and each want to have your own card).

If you’re okay paying all those fees, getting a credit card with poor credit is probably not a bad idea. Not only will it get your foot back in the world of consumer finance, it will also keep you from getting into trouble again.

What do I mean by that? Well, these kinds of cards are almost always secured or prepaid, and as such the issuing bank is keeping you from running up a balance you can’t pay. They’ll require you to make a deposit, which you can’t touch while your card is open, and basically let you borrow up to the amount that you deposited. Seems silly right?

It’s not. You’re going through the motions here to show the credit agencies that you’re ready to behave yourself with credit. Play the game for a couple of years and you’ll clear yourself of the bad name of “credit-challenged.”

No Credit Credit Cards

Like it or not, it’s hard for an adult to function easily in our society without access to some credit. Unless you can pay cash for absolutely everything (and who can?), you’re going to need the credit agencies to crank out reports every month that say you’ve been a good boy or girl when it comes to your use of debt tools.

This reality can be tough for young people trying to get the right start to building their credit. It’s the classic no job, no experience scenario right? You can’t get anyone to extend you credit unless you have some credit history, and you can’t build up your credit history unless someone will agree to give you some credit, any credit. No credit credit cards are probably the easiest door for a young person with no credit to walk through.

Credit card companies are some of the smartest, most patient, and most savvy marketers in the world. Yeah, people think they’re evil, but that’s a debate for a personal finance blog. Credit card providers have the good sense to form a relationship with a young person when they have no experience in the credit world, and kind of nurse them along as they develop themselves as earners and borrowers. My first credit card was given to me by Chase almost ten years ago with a limit of maybe $500. Now the limit on that card is over $8,000 and I have another Chase card with an equally big limit. And all because Chase was willing to give me a credit card with no credit at all.

How can they afford to do it? It’s pretty simple – they’re going to give you one of two kinds of credit cards. They’ll either offer you a secured credit card or a prepaid credit card. Different terms but they mean basically the same thing. In both cases you have to make a deposit equal to the amount of the credit line you’d like to be extended. If you can put in $300 that’s exactly how much credit you’ll have. You might be thinking “that makes no sense at all – why would I want a credit card if I have cash?” Because you need credit history, bucko. That’s why. After you form a relationship with the credit provider they’ll eventually be willing to give you unsecured credit cards, but you have to show them you’re not going to do anything stupid first.

Establishing your credit by using credit cards with no credit can be costly, though. Not only do you have to keep a deposit with the credit provider, they’re going to stick you with some fees to the tune of $50 to $100 per year. As you pay these fees just keep in mind that you’re opening the door to future important purchases – such as cars and homes – that will require you to have a solid credit rating.

No Credit Check Credit Cards

I’ve always wondered how any credit provider could afford to offer no credit check credit cards. It just didn’t seem possible, given what we all know about how credit is extended. You apply for a credit card, the credit company looks at your income and your credit history, and they decided a) whether to extend you credit, and b) how much to extend. How on earth could they give a person a credit card while completing ignoring the ‘credit score’ portion of the equation?

To answer that question I started doing a little digging, and I found some very interesting facts on no credit credit cards. The reason they’ll give you a $300 credit limit even though you have squat as far as a credit history is their fee structure. This should blow your mind.

I found a table called “Fees for Issuance or Availability of Credit”

Check this out:

Account Set-up Fee (what they’re going to charge the day they give you the card): $29.00

Program Fee (not sure what this means, but I’d guess it has something to do with ‘you have no credit’): $95.00

Monthly Servicing Fee (apparently this is an annual fee that they don’t want to call an annual fee, I suppose because they spread it out over the whole year): $84, paid at $7 per month

So let’s total this all up…and then laugh hysterically at how much they’re going to charge you for your $300 credit limit (okay it might be a little higher or lower, but I’m in the ballpark).

$29 + $95 + $84 = $208 for the first year, and $84 per year after that.

Funny right? Not really.

I guess you could look at this in terms of the ‘cost of establishing credit.’ That does make some sense, and if your long term goal is to buy your own home or even your own car, paying a couple hundred dollars in fees is probably worth it to get your credit rolling.

But make sure you check out alternatives. If you’re a young person you might consider asking your parents to add you to one of their credit accounts for a while. I’m not even saying they should let you use their credit card – just put you on their account so the credit agencies start to get some information about you as a credit holder. Of course, you’d only want to do this if your parents kept their credit squeaky clean. This whole thing would backfire if your parents were making late payments right? ;)

As always, I’ll finish by saying that you should use credit very conservatively and very wisely. Credit card debt is a miserable thing. You don’t need the stress, so stay clear of it.

Credit Cards for People with No Credit

When I was 18 years old I had no credit score and no credit history whatsoever. Without my knowledge, my parents added me to one of their credit card accounts, and as they continued to properly use their credit, my credit automatically improved. I’m not sure most people are as fortunate as I was, and they’re faced with searching for credit cards for people with no credit…and no one to help them out.

The first thing to keep in mind is you have nothing to get discouraged about if you don’t have any credit right now. Credit card companies keep very detailed statistics about how much every new card holder will be worth over their lifetime. It’s in their best interest to extend you credit cards with no credit. Here’s how they’ll do it:

They’ll start you small. Since card providers know what you’re likely to pay in term of fees and interests over the life of your membership with them, they’ll start you out with a limit in the neighborhood of $250 or $300. Enough that you feel like you can actually use your card for day to day living, but no so much that one irresponsible weekend could put you at risk of taking on a balance you have no hope of repaying.  By the way, I’m convinced that every credit card holder will, at some point, mess up and max out his card. It seems to be something we all have to go through just to learn how unpleasant it is.

After you’ve had your card for a while, the card provider will probably bump your limit a little, from maybe $300 to $500, then from $500 to $1,000, then from $1,000 to $3,000… and so on. That’s how I ended up with credit limits in excess of…well, let’s just say I’ve got some high credit limits.

You just want to make sure you’re very careful with your credit cards with no credit. As someone who’s made the occasional stupid mistake with his cards, let me tell you that it’s brutally difficult to get out of credit card debt once you’re in it. Credit cards are best not used at all, but if you have to use them you really want to make sure it’s something you use for convenience and pay off at the end of every single month. That’s a cliche you hear over and over again but it’s painfully true. Credit card debt is literally the devil, and should be avoided at all costs.

Credit Cards for Poor Credit

It’s hard to get much done in modern society without credit. You can’t buy a home, you can’t buy a car (unless of course you have a bunch of cash on hand), and in many cases not having credit (or having bad credit) will stop you from getting satellite TV or even a cell phone. So, if you’re a person with a bruised FICO score and a desire to turn things around, you’ll need to check out credit cards for poor credit.

There are a few ways you can go here. The simplest way to think about getting a poor credit credit card is to just have your parents add you to one of their accounts. When I was 18 my parents put me on one of their accounts (I didn’t even know they did it) and by the time I was 21 I actually had fairly good credit and a decent credit history for prospective lenders to look at when deciding whether to let me borrow any money. Thanks to my parents’ foresight I was able to get my first car loan at the age of 22. They did have to co-sign on the loan, but a short time later I was able to get my own loans no problem

Of course, that’s kind of an odd way to think about credit cards for people with poor credit.  What people are really looking for is a credit card provider who will give them a low limit credit card they can work with for a while in order to improve their standing with the credit agencies. These are most often going to be secured cards, because  a bank isn’t going to hand over an opportunity for you to make your situation worse (you’ve already done that, right?). What they’ll do is give you a secured card with a low limit, and then you’ll have the opportunity to use it and pay it off. Eventually your card provider will give the good news to the credit agencies and your score will slowly climb.

Ironically, carrying a small balance on your card for a few months, and making regular minimum payments, will go further toward improving your score than paying it off in full every monthy would. You see, lenders want to know that you can manage debt as much as they want to know you can manage credit. Does that make sense? Paying off your balance every month proves you can manage your credit. Carrying a small balance month to month and keeping the payments current shows you can manage your debt. Since a home loan or car loan isn’t something you can just pay off at the end of the month, you can use your credit cards as a way of proving that your ready to wisely use the bigger debt instruments. Think of the interest you pay as the cost of improving your credit to the point that you’ll be able to buy a nicer can and someday afford a home.

What Should a College Student Know About Credit Cards?

Getting a credit card, whether for the first time or not, while you are in college can be a burden and a blessing at the same time. It gives you something that you have to pay on each month and gets you into debt that you really do not want, but it can also help you to meet the demands of college life, like paying for tuition, books, rent, and food when they are required and in full. Still, there are a few things that college students should be aware of concerning credit cards.

Credit cards affect any person’s life, and starting out using credit cards in college can either help or hurt your future and your finances. Having what it takes to pay your bills, keep your debt low, and stay in a position where you can gain points on your credit score and not lose them takes a lot more skill and discipline than most young people think. The most important thing you can do with your credit card, especially at the difficult and money-tight time of your life, is to control it so that you do not accumulate debt that you cannot pay back soon.

Credit card debt has become a big problem for a lot of people. Many of the younger generation do not realize what a stressful and difficult life they can have if they get themselves into debt so far. The convenience is just not worth it.

One of the key things you need to have when you sign up for a credit card in order to better stay out of debt is a knowledge of the credit card agreement you are signing up for. There is nothing that will hurt you more than misunderstanding how your credit card works, how you will be charged interest, and what kinds of things you do with your credit card that can hurt your credit score.
Make sure that you read the details of the credit card application, call a representative if you have any questions, and make sure you know exactly what you are agreeing to before you agree to it.

What college students often may not realize is that your credit score can often times be a determining factor concerning your prospective employment. Many potential employers are allowed access and will use that access to check your credit score. This alone could possibly sway the employer’s decision about whether or not to hire you, so you want your credit score to reflect a good and disciplined credit history so that you can get the job that you probably desperately need, since you are working to not only put food on the table, but to go to school.

College is a very tender part of life when it comes to having credit cards. It’s good to have them so you can build on your credit score. Still, if they are misused, you will not only be deep in debt, but your credit score will suffer considerably.

What is Credit Card APR?

Credit card APR is the actual percentage of interest you will be paying yearly on your credit card. APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate. This is an estimate, and can be changed any time by the credit card company if you make late payments on your credit cards.

The Annual Percentage Rate is what will determine how much interest you pay through a year, rather than just the first flat interest rate that they often advertise, that will only calculate the interest from month to month, which calculation may be quite different from the yearly payment. The APR calculates the actual cost of the loan. However, it is dependent upon conditions concerning the payment regularity of the credit card holder and other conditions unique to the company.

One thing the APR does is it does not allow credit card companies the right to any hidden fees. It prevents them from giving you a freakishly low interest rate and then socking it to you in fees. A few of the fees that they are restricted from charging on the Annual Percentage Rate are: Escrow fees, notary fees, appraisal fees, recording fees, and transfer taxes. That is just to name a few.

How Annual Percentage Rates are calculated is a process that differs from credit card company to credit card company. There are several factors that contribute to this complex calculation, and each factor depends on the individual credit card company. One company may give you a great interest rate, but the APR could be totally out of your payment ability, when another company may give you the same interest rate with a lower APR.

There are certain fees that may be included and taken into consideration when credit card companies calculate your Annual Percentage Rate. These fees can also differ from company to company based on that company’s policy and your credit eligibility. Here are a few of those fees and how they work:

Origination Fees

Origination fees are charged to you for the work that is done by the credit card company in your behalf. It basically pays their employers for the time they spend handling your account and working with you to straighten out mistakes. This type of work they do includes checking your credit and preparing the legal documents that have to do with your credit card account.

Loan Processing Fee

This is the fee they charge you when you open an account. This is charged to you for the work they do to gather information so that they can process the loan, and the actual processing itself. This is also something that will affect the Annual Percentage Rate.

Underwriting Fee

Another fee they have is called the underwriting fee. This takes care of any of their expenses when considering you for a loan. It also takes care of the expenses they have for lending you the money on credit.

Should You Do a Credit Card Consolidation?

Credit card consolidation is when you have a large amount of debt that is branched out in several different credit cards, loans, mortgages, and other form of credit, and you take all of those forms of debt or credit, and you “consolidate” them into one big form of credit. In many cases, consolidating your credit card debt is not a bad idea, but in others, this type of solution only makes things worse.

Say you have three credit cards, all on which you have a balance within a seventy-five percent range of your credit limit. Besides that, you have a mortgage on your home that you are only six years away from paying off after a twenty year mortgage plan. You are thinking about debt consolidation, and you want to know what would be the best way to go about it. It is important to know what kind of debt consolidation possibilities exist out there, and to know just which one is going to get you out of debt faster with the least amount of risk.

Option 1: Low Interest Rate Credit Cards

When you think about consolidating your debt, this may be one of the best ways in which you could do it. Shop around for a new credit card that has a great interest rate that you could easily pay a large balance on. These kind of credit cards could be a great solution to your old, high interest rate cards if you are disciplined enough to pay your bills on time and not rack up the debt on this new credit card too.

Be careful, though, because sometimes these credit card interest rates are too good to be true. You need to know if the low interest rate you got on your card will change over an extended period of time, because sometimes these rates are only introductory. Credit card companies use teaser rates to get people interested in their cards, then eventually the new and wonderful card is not so wonderful anymore, leaving you in more of a tight spot than you were to begin with.

Option 2: Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit

This option can be very risky. By putting your credit card debt into your home, you basically say, “If I do not pay my bills, you can have my house.” Be careful when you consolidate your debt into your home, and be completely certain that you will be able to pay your bills on time and with ease. If you do this, consolidating your debt into your home equity line of credit will be a great solution, because the interest rates are usually much less in this case than with credit cards.

Option 3: Debt Consolidation Loan

Getting a loan may be the solution for you. However, you must know first if you will really be paying less. Because of your financial trouble, you may not be qualified for a low interest rate, therefore you end up paying just as much or more than you did before.

How Do You Understand Credit Card Application Terminology?

 COMPLETE

Applying a credit card is not easy to begin with, and the words they use that are difficult to understand are not helping any. The one thing you want most, when you are applying for a credit card, is to understand the details of the application and the terms and conditions of the credit card loan. But how could you possibly do that with all the seemingly foreign language they use in the advertisement alone, to say nothing of the actual details.

Knowing what you are reading on a credit card application is important. But sometimes, even talking on the phone with a representative from a credit card company, it can be difficult to understand and follow along. Here are a few words that may be useful to know, what they mean, and what they have to do with getting a credit card.

Collateral

Collateral is some sort of asset, or something that you own that is of value, that you are willing to secure a credit card loan with. It secures your loan so that if you do not pay your bills, whatever you put up for collateral will be taken by the credit card company. If you are applying for a secured credit card, you will be required to pledge something that you own that is worth a certain amount in case you fail to pay your bills, or if you take out bankruptcy.

Credit Scoring System

This refers to the complex equation and factors that are calculated into your credit score. Your credit score and your credit report will determine whether or not you will be approved for a credit card, and how much your interest will be.

Annual Percentage Rate

Usually this is written as APR. Annual Percentage Rate is the percentage of the principle you will be charged in interest per year. This amount compounds each month, so the APR should not be confused with the actual interest rate. They are two seperate calculations of interest.

Fixed Rate

A fixed interest rate is a rate that will not change unless you make late payments. A fixed interest rate basically stays the same if you pay your bills on time and do not incur other penalties on yourself. There are some fixed rates that only last for a certain period of time, but others last for the entire time that the credit card account is open and active.

Finance Charge

Basically, this is what they use to describe your overall interest. A finance charge is a charge or fee they require you to pay for borrowing money on credit. So when you see “finance charge” written on an application, that is the total amount estimated that you will pay in interest.

There are several things you may not understand when you are trying to apply for a credit card. Along with the hassle of applying, you should not have to worry about the terminology. Knowing what you’re getting into is essential, and can save you loads of money in the future.

Do You Need Credit Card Insurance?

There are several types of insurance in this world, and finding the right insurance policy for you that will cover you in all the risks you entail by living your everyday life is a difficult feat to accomplish. Still, having the right knowledge about the many different kinds of insurance policies out there will help you to decide which is best for you.

Having credit cards automatically subscribes you for a certain amount of risk. The biggest risks you take involve your money… how much you will be able to keep, how much you will lose, and how much you will not have when the world is demanding it of you and demanding to have it now. So what kind of protection can you receive for these kind of risks, that will allow you to stay within a reasonable debt range and keep a good credit score if your ability to pay your credit card bills suddenly goes down the drain? Credit card insurance is one option, and depending on who you are and what kind of insurance protection you need, it may be just the thing for you.

Types of Credit Card Insurance

Credit Property Insurance

This type of insurance applies when you have bought something with a credit card that you are still paying for, and suddenly one day that thing gets destroyed. Because you have credit property insurance, your debt on that object is cancelled and you no longer owe anymore money on that object. This is great for people who buy expensive things with credit cards that do not have a warranty.

Unemployment Credit Insurance

This is applicable when the card holder is laid off, or unexpectedly removed from employment. It only applies until the card holder finds other employment, and it does not include incidences when the unemployment was voluntary. Because you are unwillingly unemployed, the credit card company will pay the amount you owe on your minimum monthly payment until you can find another job.

Disability

This type of insurance is also only active for a short period of time. It is applicable only when you are medically disabled, and will no longer be active when your disability is over. This will also pay the monthly payment on your credit card, and applies only to existing debt, not to purchases made after the disability occurs.

Credit Life Insurance

This is the kind of insurance that is most helpful to credit card users. It makes sure that whatever you owe after you die is paid in full. That way, whoever you leave behind is not responsible for your credit card debt.

Disadvantages of Credit Card Insurance

Many times, other kinds of insurance will probably cover you in more cases and with more money than credit card insurance. Also, credit card insurance applies only to the specific credit card. If you have more than one card, you have to apply for all the different insurance policies for all your different credit cards, which may not end up saving you money anyway.

Who is Responsible for Your Credit Card Debt After Your Death?

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During a devastating time like this, the last thing you want to think about is money. Your spouse just died, but credit card companies do not necessarily consider how you feel at the time. All they have to worry about is whether or not your spouses credit card debt will continue to be paid, even after their death. So are you the one responsible for his debt, even at a difficult time like this?

Credit card debt is something that is sometimes necessary. We need it to buy some of the necessities in life. But what happens when you buy things on credit that you are paying for not only for years, but for a lifetime? What if yours or your spouse’s life does not last long enough for you to pay off the debt that extends beyond it? Who ends up paying the bills?

It depends on who you are, what kind of debt you have, and whose names were joined on the credit card account of the diseased. If yours or someone else’s name is on the contract along with the original card holder, you or that person are responsible for the debt they leave behind. That is why it is important to consider all the factors when you go to cosign on someone’s credit card agreement. When you agree to have a joint credit card account, you are agreeing to pay the debt that the card holder cannot pay, and the same goes for them.

If the credit card debt was in the diseased’s name alone, with no one else that agreed to take on the debt that was incurred by that specific card, then no one pays for it. The credit card company is required to just eat the debt that is owed, whether or not there is existing family to pay the debt or not.

Sometimes, if you are the only one living in your home or you are not married, or even if you are married, credit card companies will try to make up the money you owe by taking your assets. This type of payment is only applicable under certain circumstances, but it is one way that your credit card debt could be paid off after your debt.

If you are in debt and you are concerned about your family, knowing the facts about how much debt you will be leaving behind when you die and who will be paying for it will help put your mind at rest. Being able to know the ins and outs of the debt world and how it is paid when you can’t make the cut is important when it comes to you and your family. Knowing what will happen to your loved ones after you die will give you more comfort in life.

If I File Bankruptcy, Can I Keep My Credit Cards?

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Several years ago, my sister and her husband had to file for bankruptcy. I did not really know what all that meant back then, so I asked my mom. She told me that it was what happened when you can’t pay back the money you owe on credit cards or loans, and that they take away things that you have to pay for them. She also told me that it is very difficult to get a credit card after you file bankruptcy, but was it really true that you could not have any credit cards at all?

Now that I am older, I know a little bit more about the subject. When a person file for bankruptcy with existing credit cards that have an existing balance on them, you have to list it as a debt. After all, that’s what it is, because you owe money to the credit card companies. Because of this you cannot keep your credit cards.

However, if you have a credit card that does not have a current balance, you are allowed to keep it. Because you do not owe that company any money on the credit card, it does not have to be listed as a debt, therefore allowing you to retain your card for further use. But if the credit card company in which you are borrowing this money from find out that you have filed for bankruptcy, they may want to change the terms and conditions that the card comes with, like your credit limit on that card and the interest rate you are paying each month.

Still, the credit card company that gave you that card does have the right to cut off your credit line through that card if they ever find out that you filed for bankruptcy. It all depends on whether or not they are willing to keep you, but most credit card companies still want your business, even afterwards. Some credit card companies, however, will see you as irresponsible and take away the credit line you have through them, despite the fact that you do not have a current balance, just because of bankruptcy.

Getting new credit cards after bankruptcy is not really hard at all. One thing about bankrupt victims of debt is that they continue to get credit card offers, and perhaps even in more quantity than they were given to them before. Of course, the interest rates may very likely be higher than they normally are, and the offered limits might be lower, all because of your high risk of not paying off your debt.

To me, the whole point of getting out of debt by taking the path we call bankruptcy is to learn from our mistakes. We should not file bankruptcy with the goal in mind to just get more credit cards and get deep into debt again. The whole idea of it is to learn from our mistakes and trying not to repeat those mistakes.

The Best Credit Card Offers

Good credit cards are hard to come by. Even half descent credit cards are not easily found. You can get one that looks great when you apply, but down the road you learn that you could have had it better. Sometimes looking at the credit card advertisements alone will make it difficult for you to know just how good the card actually is. Here are some things to look for when you are searching for a credit card that will be of benefit to you when you use it to buy items on credit.

Interest Rates

Any credit card can offer you a great interest rate to start out with, but will that rate change after a certain period of time, and what will that rate change to once that time is up? Knowing what your interest rates are at the beginning, what they will be if they change, and what they could be if you make late payments is important. If you have a good idea about just how much you will be paying on interest, it is easier to shop for the best card and figure out what card will save you the most money because of their rates.

Credit Limits

What the credit card limit should be depends on what you want to buy, how punctually you will be able to make the monthly payment, and how long it will take you to pay it off. Many credit card companies will offer you sky high maximum credit limits, but the best thing is to determine yourself how high you can allow your limits can be. The credit limit will differ for each person according to their credit rating, but credit cards should give you a fair range of money in which you can spend.

The Companies

The credit card you get is only as good as the company it belongs to and the people that run it. They decide what the terms are when you apply for their credit card. You have to know what you’re getting into and who you are dealing with so that you can not only compare credit cards, but you can also compare the companies that make them.
Services

You need to be able to take advantages of certain services offered by credit card companies. You need to be able to do things such as cancel your credit card and cut it off from your account if it ever gets stolen. You need to be able to talk to someone who is willing to listen if you feel that there has been a mistake made by that company.

Rewards

Any kind of credit card you get should have some sort of rewards program. Not getting rewards on your credit card is like buying something at one place when you could have gotten the exact same thing somewhere else on sale. It’s a really good way to save money, and any credit card that saves you money should definitely be considered.

The Best Credit Card Ever

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You shop around for weeks, perhaps even months before you apply for a credit card. You have looked around in what feels like all the possible places for a good credit card company, good interest rates, a descent rewards program, and good possibilities for credit limits. You finally decide on one, but you’re still not sure you’ve found the right one. Well, my friend, you need to take advantage of the best credit card ever. We call it the credit card from heaven, which where you have to go to apply for it. Here are a few of the benefits of a credit card you can only get after you die.

Interest Rates

None whatsoever. Other companies offer you zero percent interest for a certain period of time, then rack it up after that time expires. With us, we’ll let you keep the zero percent interest… forever. You never pay a dime of interest. With us, the only interest you pay is taking interest in our company and signing with us. Having a customer like you is a privilege, and we want to keep you, no matter what it takes.

No Monthly Payments Until The End Of Time

Not only are you free of interest for the entire time you have this card, you don’t even have to pay back what you spend. The greatest pay we could ever receive from you is your beautiful smile every time you run that card through the machine and pack home that new $9,000 hand bag that’s too small to hold your cash anyway. Spending thousands of dollars is monthly payment enough, just knowing you are holding our card between your tightly clenched fingers.

Rewards Rewards Rewards

You may want to get bigger pockets and more vacation time. For every dollar that you spend, you get ten points back. You can trade those points in for just about anything you want. Cash, gasoline, skymiles, lottery tickets, peanut butter… whatever you want. Just spend the money, and we’ll give you the rewards, just because we love you.

Always Qualify

No matter who you are, where you come from, or how bad your credit is, you will never be turned down at our company. Getting this credit card is as easy as getting free samples at Costco. All you have to do is come to us and ask for it. Even if your credit score is in the negatives, which is impossible, by the way, you will still qualify to have our credit card. It’s our way of helping out the little guys, and helping out people who are otherwise rejected.

So whatever kind of credit card you have now, it’s probably not as good as ours. Come in and get one now. We hand them out like dinner mints at a cheap restaurant, and we want you to partake of the advantages that are in store for you.
This advertisement for the credit card from heaven is brought to you buy BS Inc. We’d like to thank the Over My Dead Body Association for making this credit card offer possible.