Posts tagged: spending_habits

Can You Do a Balance Transfer From Someone Else’s Credit Card?

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Transferring someone else’s balance onto a card that you carry is possible, but not always wise. It can either be very helpful for the person you are transferring the balance for, or it can be very hurtful to you if you take on the responsibility of someone else’s debt by transferring the balance from their card onto yours. Here are a few pros and cons.

Benefits

Some of the things you can get out of a balance transfer from someone else’s credit card to yours is that they have a much better annual percentage rate. Their credit card interest will go down considerably with a credit card balance transfer. The fact that you have paid your bills on time and have a good credit score and credit history will also be advantageous to them in more ways than one, especially if they have had a bad credit history themselves.

If the person that has recently been added to your credit card has a good credit history and is responsible with their spending, it will be a great benefit for you as well. Their good spending habits will reflect on your credit report as well as theirs, because the card is originally under your name. It is important to know if someone can be of benefit to you in this way before you allow them to transfer the balance of their debt onto your credit card.

Fallbacks

The biggest risk you are taking when you allow someone to transfer their debt onto you credit card is if they spend on your card unwisely and build their debt problem back up to where it was before. A lot of the time, when people get in trouble with interest rates because they have bad spending habits, it is very difficult for them to change those habits in order for it not to happen again. The part that makes the situation even worse than it was before is that it is YOUR credit card, and YOU are going to suffer along with them.

If you have bad spending habits, this will rack up their debt and interest rates as well. Say you just got a brand new credit card with a great APR, but you have had some trouble paying your bills in the past. The people you allow on your credit card are going to want to know about this in order to decide whether or not they will really benefit from joining their balance with yours. Just like they can ruin good interest rates for you, you need to be certain that you will not leave them stuck with higher interest rates than they had on their first credit card.

Tips

You finally decide that it’s safe to do the transfer. Now what? Just like shopping for any other card with low interest rates, you need to be careful of what cards you settle for. Be sure to get one with a low fixed rate, and know how much it may increase, when, and why.

How Soon After Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Can You Get a Credit Card?

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Chapter seven bankruptcy is the most common form of bankruptcy that is used in the world today. It is the type of bankruptcy that liquidates your business or assets to allow them to be used to pay the people that you owe money to that you cannot pay back yourself. This liquidation happens all too often in our atmosphere of misused credit today.

There are several small steps you can take to get back on your feet after bankruptcy. However, most of these methods take time, because it is impossible to be instantly qualified for credit and back on track right after you have claimed that you cannot pay off your debt. Having credit card companies, banks, and other lenders trust you with credit again is going to take some time.

Build Your Credit Score

The best thing you can do to qualify yourself for good credit, better interest rates, and descent credit limits again is to build your credit score. Unfortunately, the only way you can really do this is to use some form of credit, like credit cards. So at first it may be difficult to pay those high interest rates and have such low credit limits, but you must face the consequences of filing for chapter seven bankruptcy and pay the price until you are back on your feet. Once you have again established a good credit rating, you will have lower interest rates and higher limits because you have rebuilt your trust and lowered your risk of another bankruptcy.

Manage Your Credit Wisely

The fact that you had to file for chapter seven bankruptcy alone should be a lifelong lesson that will get you to be more careful about your spending habits and your payment abilities. Now that you are trying to move on, you should create a budget for yourself so that you know just how much you can spend on credit, how easily you will be able to make the monthly payments on that amount, and how many things you could go without so that you can gain a better credit score.

Getting Another Credit Card

Getting a credit card after you have filed for bankruptcy will not be difficult. You will still receive offers and qualify for several different kinds of cards. In fact, if it is used more wisely than it was prior to your bankruptcy, a credit card may be the very thing that gets you out of your slump.

Having a credit card and using it sparingly after bankruptcy will help to build your credit score and get you back to where you were. The way in which you could do this is by getting a card, only spending a small amount of money on it, and paying it off each month. Keeping your credit card account open and paying it off frequently will build your credit score more rapidly than it would if you just let your credit card debt stay at a plateau or continually increase.

How Many Credit Cards is Too Many?

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Is there such a thing as too many credit cards?

There can be. Honestly, it goes both ways. Most people would agree, though, that they are at a higher risk of getting into debt that they cannot escape if they own way more credit cards than they can control. Having so much credit can be too tempting, and many people have given in to that temptation, spending more than they can pay back and ending up with a bad credit card and debt up to their earlobes.

This is why it is often difficult to keep, or build up to, a good credit score. Creditors look at how many credit cards you have and almost automatically see a potential threat that you will not be able to pay off your debt. This automatically decreases your score, and it also may make it difficult to receive other forms of credit, like a loan, or another credit card.

So how do you escape the automatic assumption that just because you have a lot of credit cards, you cannot pay your debt?

Well, there are some cases in which people do not have a bad credit score, even when they have several credit cards. What did these people have that those with even a few cards did not? A good credit history. That and regular payments helps your credit score either stay in the high numbers, or increase to where you want it to be.

So how do I know how many credit cards I can have?

How many credit cards you can handle is up to you. If you have a large number of credit cards in your wallet and are confused as to why you are having difficulty paying your bills on time, you may want to cut down a bit. Your spending habits and our monthly income are what determine how many credit cards you can have without letting your debt get out of control, and how well you control your debt is what will determine your credit score.

How do I build up a good credit history?

If you are just starting to get familiar with credit, you should probably start out with a low number of credit cards, if not one. Buying too many credit cards at once will make you appear as a potential over-spender, and even worse, someone who will not be able to pay their bills. To start out low and use your credit card wisely, like paying your bills on time and paying your cards off frequently, will eventually prove that you can handle credit cards carefully and result in a very good credit history, allowing for you to build up to an excellent credit score.

How can I show creditors that I’m dependable with my credit cards?

Always pay in full and on time. The thing that will hurt your credit score the most is having frequent occurrences where you make your payments late. Paying your bills on time every time will show that whether you have one or fifty credit cards, you can pay back the money that you borrowed on those cards.

Student Loans And Credit Cards

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A lot of students ask where should they get their funds to support them through school. Student loans and credit cards are two common areas where students look to go with expenditures. I think that both serve their purpose, but you want to make sure that you use them for the right reasons. These are really two different weapons in your arsenal that can go in your favor or against you. It really depends on how smart you are with your spending habits.

Realize first what they are and what purpose they serve. There are so many different types of student loans you can get out there and so many types of credit cards you can get out there too. A student loan is directly related to helping a student with the cost of tuition, possibly school materials, and room and board. It just depends a lot on what type of loan you receive.

A lot of it will also be based on what is the tuition requirement for your school, which can very from a $2,000 to $30,000 a semester. It is important to make sure you know too what rent will cost in your area along with other normal expenditures. Obviously going to New York or California is going to require more money for living standards than going to a school in Utah or Minnesota.

A credit card will also have a lot of different rates and usually have higher interest rates. Now you can find o% APR for a year or six months and it can buy you some time to use these cards. You have to be careful about changing rates. The beauty of a student loan is that you don’t have to start paying until several months after you are finished with school.

A credit card is going to require minimum payments, interest, potentially annual fees and other requirements. A credit card, such as college student Visa credit cards, can also help to build your credit faster than a student loan if you can use it correctly. Also these tend to be less tedious to get as far as requirements, there are many visa credit cards for college students with instant applications and easy approval.

Student Loans Vs. Credit Cards

This answer is decided by looking at what you are going to use it for. Chances are you are going to have a high tuition to cover and it would probably be a lot better to use a student loan to take care of that. If you can get room and board in that then that would be beneficial. You are going to have lower interest rates compared to a credit card and more time to make money before you have to worry about paying it back. This can help you focus on school more and the tasks at hand. You will have plenty of time to make money and start chipping away at that loan.

As far as a credit card goes, I think that these are also necessary. They are great to help you build your credit for the purchases you may make when you begin your career. These are great for everyday purchases like food and clothes. You just have to be aware of what your balance is and how you plan on paying it off.

The Best Way To Pay Off Secured Credit Cards

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A secured credit card can be a touchy thing. You definitely need to make sure that you pay your bills. Many people don’t know much about the best way to pay off secured credit cards or sometimes even how to get them.

This is a great example I have here for so many people to get into the habit to start spending their credit cards the right way. I am going to talk not just about paying off the secured credit cards, but more importantly how you should spend on these cards. I have a story from a friend of mine that has been through a lot and has struggled to get his credit turned around. It took him some time and this is his experience:

I had such a horrible time using my credit cards correctly. I struggled to know how to do it right. My spending habits were pathetic. I couldn’t make payments because I was spending so much more than I could afford. It was difficult for me to pay off my debts.

First, I couldn’t pay off any debts and I started building up interest. It continued to multiply and then I couldn’t even pay the full interest any more and the principle wasn’t even a thought. It got so bad that I had to stop my credit cards. I had to drastically change my spending habits and pay off so much debt.

My credit was in the can, but I wanted to get a business going. I spent so much money on consumer debt that was just staying there doing nothing and hurting my score. I started to realize about leveraging capabilities. There were people that would spend so much money and more than I was, but they were using that money to make them money. I realized this from a friend that was sporting the American Express Black card.

Well that type of a card was out of my range. So I had to look at a secured line of credit that was out there that I could get my hands onto. I found some business partially secured credit cards that were quality interest rates and not a lot of application fees that I knew would be a pain in the neck if I didn’t take care of it. I started using these cards wisely for the first time in my life. I thought to myself each time and for the first time, ‘Should I pay for it or can I go without it?’ Finally, I found myself spending more wisely.

This friend of mine has improved his credit gradually and found out the best way to pay off secured credit cards. Be careful what you buy. One of the worst things you can do is spending too much and assuming that you will be able to pay it off. It is never that easy. You never realize what other bills may come up or other emergencies you may have. Play it safe and create more streams of income so you can spend lavishly, but within your means.

Credit Cards For People With Bad Credit And Student Loans

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Well there are many former students out there that have finished college and are trying to establish a career, but they have years of bills to pay. This is a big hassle because potentially you can have bad credit, especially if you have missed payments on your student loans. Obviously there are a lot of things that go into what your credit score is and a student loan can have an impact on that. If you miss a payment then you are going to get hit on your score. It will take a good six months of on time payments to bring your credit up or to even be considered. So don’t miss any more payments if you have.

Student loans usually have lower interest rates then credit cards, so I would probably stick to using that loan for expenditures before going after a credit card to use. On average interest rates for student loans are around 5%, but a credit card can have an interest rate around 15% and if you have bad credit or little credit history then it could be up to or over 20%. This can be silly for you to take on if you don’t know how to use it correctly. So first before getting a credit card, consider your spending habits and how you can improve it.

Students With Bad Credit And Loans, Looking For Cards And Checking Accounts

If you do decide to get a credit card then the first thing that you should probably do is set up a checking account and a savings account. Look at some store credit cards as options to get your credit going, just don’t spend like a 13 year old girl before her first day of school. Use it sparingly and pay off all debt quickly. The next step would be to get a secured credit card that will require a deposit and probably an annual fee (not always). There will be high interest rates, but the same rules apply for this as with the store credit cards. Use this simply as an experiment to improve your credit. You would be amazed how many people go nuts and think this is actually their money. I deal with this everyday and it boggles my mind.

This will take a few months and continue to pay off your student loan. If you have to, look at using the student loan to pay off any credit card debt as a last option. This can be intelligent if you are in a bind because the rates for the credit card will be higher and you want to always pay off higher interest rates first. In the end if you are a student with bad credit and student loans, finding credit cards and checking accounts can be very beneficial if you decide to use your dollar bills wisely.