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.”

How Can You Obtain A Russel Simmons Card?

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First of all, what is a Russel Simmons Card? A Russel Simmons Card is a type of prepaid card that allows you to buy things on credit when you do not have a bank account of any form. Other credit card companies will not allow you to get a credit card with them unless you do have a bank account. This is why so many Americans today benefit from the Russel Simmons form of prepaid card. But how do you get your hands on one of these cards?

How Does It Work?

A Russel Simmons card basically works like a debit card. It allows you to put a deposit in of as much as you want, and you are only allowed to spend that much. The best part about it is that it is safe, because you do not run up huge credit card bills that you cannot pay back.

You can buy things off the Internet and order things by phone, just like many other credit cards. You are allowed to get money out of an ATM anytime, and can use your card just about anywhere that Visa is accepted. This prepaid rush card is also less expensive compared to most cards, including other prepaid cards.

There are some fees that are incurred with the rush card. However, the fees are not as high as most credit cards, and even many prepaid cards. Perhaps you could shop around and decide what company you would like to go with based on those fees, such as processing fees and setup fees.

Having a Rush card is inexpensive, mostly because there are much fewer fees than a normal credit card company or a bank would charge, and you can benefit also because of the ability that card holders have to track their spending right up to date. You can also make payments on your bills and do other transactions online that, if you do not have a bank account, would cost you huge fees in other places.

How Do You Get It?

Getting a Russel Simmons card is basically like getting any other prepaid credit card. Everyone is eligible to apply for a Rush card, and no one can be turned down for not being employed, because you do not have to confirm on your application that you have a job. Another nice thing about it is that when you are being considered to have a prepaid Rush card, they will not check your credit report.

Whether or not a Rush card is right for you is basically your decision. It is a very helpful tool in getting you money that you need fast if you do not have a bank account. Banks can be a hassle because of their fees and contracts, but with a Russel Simmons card, you pay very low fees, which, by the way, include no monthly or annual fees, and you do not run the risk of getting into debt that you cannot escape.

Maximizing Credit Card Skymiles

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Owning a skymiles credit card can be very rewarding if you know how to properly use it. People often overlook the many benefits that can come from using a rewards card in everyday life.

When making ordinary purchases, people mostly use cash and/or debit cards, which is a safe yet unrewarding way to increase personal benefits. If people would simply switch their usage of cash and debit cards for reward cards, their amount of skymiles and other financial rewards would automatically increase. When buying gas, going grocery shopping, getting new clothes, paying bills, and making other ordinary purchases, remember to use your rewards card.

This simple technique will help you earn skymiles that would otherwise not be gained, obviously, with cash or debit cards. Although credit cards can cause people a lot of pain when used unwisely, they can also be very rewarding when used properly and wisely.

Other ways to maximize the skymiles on your credit cards is to apply all your major purchases to the credit cards. Wisdom must be used when this technique is used, but when used properly, it can harvest huge skymile rewards. Such major investments on credit cards include buying new or used motorized machines such as cars, motorcycles, dirt bikes, boats, etc.

Other major investments that can be applied to credit cards are sporting event season tickets, jewelry, and home improvements. Some people put all of their major purchases on their reward cards and receive major rewards in return. A number of airline companies even give out a free flyer pass, which allows a person to travel anywhere free for a certain period of time, to those customers with extremely high reward card investments.

There are new stories about people who get to fly all over the world simply because of all the skymiles that they have accumulated. This is how smart investors both make and save money in their life. Wise investors not only invest in money, but also in other assets that are extremely valuable but also overlooked.

Since globalization continues to dramatically increase in the world today, more and more people continue to build their desire to travel to different places. Since money isn’t the only valuable asset in the world, people have found other unique methods that allow them to accomplish worldwide travel. One of these unique methods includes the acquisition of skymiles through creative financial spending and investing.

In the end, the wise use of rewards cards can be extremely beneficial and rewarding to loyal customers because of the essential need of credit card companies for people to use their specific cards. That is why in recent years there are so many companies willing to invest in the creation of rewards cards, since it harvests huge profits from the customers. Customers can tap into the secrets of coming off financially successful as well.

Not only will the number of a customer’s skymiles increase, but also the number of other related rewards that each airline company offers.

Rewards Cards Are My Best Friends

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There are many types of credit cards out there. So when you are searching for a good one, you should take into consideration what you can get back by using that credit card. Sure, you can get the lowest interest rates ever, make your payments on time, and end up saving money, but is there such a thing as making money with a credit card? Many people associate the word “credit” with the word “debt”, but when you use rewards credit cards, you can actually get money back from the things you bought on a credit card. Think of it as buying something on credit and getting a free gift to go with it. How much you spend depends on what the free gift is. Here are a few examples of the kinds of rewards you get by using these certain credit cards.

Points

Rewards cards will often give you however many points for a certain amount of money that you spend using your card. After a period of time, you can cash in your points to get discounts on certain items, such as gasoline, food, clothing, travel, and sometimes you can even trade them in to get cold hard cash. The longer you let your points rack up, the more rewards you get at one time. In a way, it’s like getting back some of the amount you spent on your card.

Travel Rewards

If you use your credit card to travel by air a lot, you can build up your air miles. Buying an airline ticket with your credit card earns you a lot of points, allowing you to get huge discounts on airline tickets. With some cards with specific rewards, you could get points added on if you buy a new car with your credit card. In any case, if you travel a lot, a travel rewards credit card will allow you to get discounts on your traveling expenses.

Zero Balance Credit Transfer

Some credit cards offer you the opportunity to transfer your balance from another card to theirs, giving you the benefit of having interest free payments if you pay them within a certain period of time. This is beneficial if you have high interest rates on one of your existing cards and wish to get them down at least to a low number. This allows you a certain period of time to pay off your debt with absolutely no interest to worry about.

If you are shopping around for a good credit card, why not get one that will give you a little back? Saving money in any case is a huge opportunity, and rewards programs allow you to get back some of what you spent. Depending on the type of person you are and your spending habits, it is up to you to decide what type of rewards credit card will be most beneficial to you. The biggest thing is to pay your credit card bills on time. If you make a lot of late payments, these rewards are not applicable to you because you don’t pay back what you spent.

Rewards Credit Cards

We use our credit cards for a lot of things. In fact, we use them for almost everything. Here’s an interesting tidbit: the only thing I’ve found I couldn’t buy with a credit card was a money order. Can you believe that? I want to know what powerful lobbyist in Washington made sure I had to go through the credit card companies’ exorbitant cash advance fees.

Anyway, my point isn’t the slimy lobbyists. My point is that if you’re going to use your credit cards for every purchase under the sun you might as well get paid.

What? Get paid to use your credit cards? In a sense, yes. Rewards credit cards are making it possible for credit card holders to get a little something back. Call it a thank you from the banks – a thank you for those billions of dollars in credit card interest we all pay every year.

Let’s make one thing clear – the credit card companies make a lot of money whether you ever carry a balance on your card. I’m fine with it. Companies need to make a profit to survive. Every time you swipe that card the merchant pays visa a fee. Multiply a few cents times millions of transactions per day and you’ve got large stacks of cash. I’m only telling you this so you understand the credit card companies aren’t going out of business even if you pay your balance every month. So do it.

In fact, the key to making rewards credit cards a good deal for you is to never carry a balance. Think about the different rewards you can get – cash back, points toward purchases, airline miles, etc. In every case, one point or one mile has a dollar value you never think about. For example: if a $50 laptop back costs 1,000 points to purchase, then each point is worth 5 cents. So you get 5 cents for every point, and you usually get 1 point for every dollar you spend.

That’s all great right? But wait, what if you spend $500 per month on your card, and you carry the balance from month to month. It’s not going to take very long before the finance charges will far outweigh the rewards points. I doubt they want you thinking about that. They want you thinking about the ‘free’ stuff you can get.

Listen, I want you to take advantage of rewards credit cards. I love mine. I take at least one trip each year courtesy of American Express or Capital One thanks to their airline miles programs. All I’m saying is you have to make sure those ‘free’ miles don’t cost you hundreds of dollars.

Build Skymiles While You Fix Up the House

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Every year Americans spend millions and millions updating and repairing their homes. It’s our biggest asset (or liablility, depending on your perspective), and we take a lot of pride in its appearance. Home improvement isn’t cheap though. Let’s say you want to finish your basement so you have a new family room and a couple more bedrooms. You could easily spend $20,000 on the project.

The question is how are you going to pay for it? If I asked what is the financial tool most often used to pay for large-scale home remodeling, your quick answer would be probably be home equity loans. What would be the number two tool? Credit Cards.

We can could have en entirely separate conversation about whether you should go into a bunch of new debt for sake of an updated house. The short answer is probably no. The best thing for your financial health would be to save up for a while and pay cash for the improvements. But if you’re going to put the money into your home you should consider the best way to go about it.

Here’s my advice. Open the home equity loan. It’s a relatively low interest loan where the interest may even be tax deductible. But before you write those home equity checks, I’d advise adding one more step.

Get a credit card with  a large limit and a great rewards program. I have an American Express card with a Delta Skymiles rewards program. Every 25,000 skymiles gets you a round trip ticket anywhere in the continental United States. $1 spent gets you 1 skymile.

Now think about that $20,000 basement you’re putting in. Use the credit card to pay for all the materials and the pay it off with the home equity line before the statement comes due. That way you avoid the high interest rate on the credit card, but you got yourself most of the way to a free plane ticket while you were at it.

Not a bad deal, right? New basement, extra square footage, and a free trip to boot. I love my credit cards.