Posts Tagged ‘Secured Credit Cards’

Avoiding Credit Card Debt Before It Sneaks Up On You

In this modern time where the economy has been such a challenge for everyday people like you and me to keep up, it’s easy to get into credit trouble when your credit bills begin to stack up. So if you are in the position to just start learning the ropes of the world of credit cards, there are a lot of things you can do to avoid credit card debt before it sneaks up on you and keep your nose clean, as they say.This is an outstanding goal for you if you are just getting your first credit cards. If you know or talk to anyone who is battling tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt, you know what a jail sentence it can be. Once that credit card debt gets that high, the time it will take even under the best of conditions to bring it down runs into the years if not decades. And for all that time, thousands of dollars of money goes down the drain to credit interest that doesn’t buy you any food, tickets to the movies or new clothes. It just goes away with no value to you at all.But if you are new to the world of credit, getting a credit card is a good thing. But once you get one, keeping it under control is job one. You will find it amazingly easy to use a credit card once it comes. In fact, the retail world makes it difficult to conduct transactions any other way. You can pay for gas at the pump that way and even charge your groceries at the grocery store. And while all of these great uses for credit are helpful, you can end up with a whopper of a credit card bill at the end of the month. And if you don’t pay that bill off, that is the first step on a lifelong jail term in credit card debt jail.So there are some guidelines you should follow to both use credit responsibly but also to keep building your credit rating which has a real value to you. Remember that what the credit card companies don’t tell you is that making a charge on a credit card is a loan. Even if you just charge ten bucks to go to the movies, you took out an unsecured loan to finance that movie ticket. So once you start using a credit card, keep in mind that you will be paying back everything you run up on it. It is NOT free money. A good practice is to save every receipt every month and keep a running tally of what you have spent on credit. Now only can you use that to cross check your credit card, it keeps you honest because each time you add a charge to your credit card, you can update your tally so you know for certain that you will be able to pay it off when the bill comes.Paying off the credit card each month is the number one best way to keep your credit problems under control. Now it isn’t a bad idea to let a little bit of the debt drift from month to month. This builds your credit history and credit rating which will pay you well down the road when you want to buy a larger purchase. But by staying on top of your credit and what is going onto your card, you will start out with the kind of habits that will lead to a life of good credit use without credit card jail. And that is a wonderful gift to give yourself early in life.

Credit Card Tricks

when it comes to the dozens of credit card offers that you get in your mailbox every week, you might think that some of these credit card companies would like to be on the next series called “Stupid Credit Card Tricks”.These promotions that you get for credit cards seem to be playing on just about every tactic they can find to get you to take out yet one more credit card. You would think that the fact that credit card debt is a virtual epidemic in this country would let the credit card companies know that its time to get on the side of the consumer to learn responsible use of credit. Instead they do all they can to get you to have more, not less, credit cards and use them as much as you can.We need to be smart consumers because as much as credit card companies try to make credit cards seem fun and happy and like big toys in your wallet, they are not toys. We should never forget that a credit card is nothing more than a way for the credit company to extend to you dozens of small unsecured loans that they will create credit payments on the fly to enforce through your credit card bill that will include high interest rates and additional fees as they see fit.This is not to say that having a credit card is not a good thing. Good credit is one of the real assets any responsible adult will use to help make life easier and to make the necessary purchases in life. And more and more credit is becoming the currency of choice replacing cash and checks as the preferred method for paying for gas, at restaurants and any more even at retail outlets and grocery stores.While the spread of credit as actual currency is a fact of life for us, it is also a major move by the credit card companies to take over the economy and to make you even more dependent on them. So the best defense is to take charge of your credit card life and make sure that you are the boss of your credit cards, not the other way around.The stupid credit card tricks can be really fun to look at and sometimes enticing. They will appeal to your sense of school pride by giving you a credit card in your college school colors. You can get credit cards that give donations to save the environment, help the poor or create a college fund for your kids. There are all kinds of premiums, cash back concepts, frequent flier miles and gifts and toys that credit card companies will fork over just to lure you into getting more credit cards and using them a lot.To put it bluntly, you and I need to learn not to be suckers for these deals. We can laugh at the stupid tricks they try to use. But if a credit card company is going to try to trick you into getting a card or using one, they are not doing business honestly with you. You want a credit card company that deals straight with you. They should offer fair rates that don’t change at the drop of a hat. They should sustain a reasonable credit limit and not always be jacking it up to try to get you to buy more stuff on the card. And they should have good customer service and be ready to renegotiate your relationship with them so you are getting good value from their service, not just paying for a bunch of toys and frills that do you no good whatsoever.By keeping in mind what a credit card company actually does and that credit cards are mature adult tools, not games or toys, we can keep in perspective how to use our credit cards and how to keep from abusing credit which will lead to the nightmare of credit card debt.

Banks and Secured Credit Cards

If you currently have bad credit, you’ve probably found that secured credit cards are probably the way to go when it comes to re-building credit. A popular question that comes to my attention when I discuss secured cards is “What bank should I go with?” Since there are so many banks on the market, it’s hard not to choose just one but we have to keep in mind that they are all completely different.
Some banks want to focus on bad credit and others don’t even want to deal with it. Why? Some lenders truly believe that people who have bad credit will always have bad credit and will never learn from their mistakes. Studies have shown that many people who do start to rebuild their credit learn from their past mistakes and never go into debt again. Then again, there are those few who never do learn though.
What kind of bank should I go through?
With so many banks out there, the first step would be to simply check out the bank you’re banking with. Ask a teller or representative to see what kind of secured card they have to offer. Many of the major banks like Bank or America, etc do offer secured credit cards. They will be able to tell you in person on how you can use this card in order to establish your credit once again.
Are all banks different?
Absolutely. Every bank that you bank with is going to be different especially when it comes to a secured card. These types of cards will require that you put down a down deposit. Whatever you put down as a down deposit will determine what your credit limit is going to be. The more you put down, the more you’re going to get as a credit limit. Some banks will also allow you to collect interest that you have on your money stored in ties with your credit card. These are usually the banks that you want to go with. The major differences that you’ll see though will be the fees. You’ll always find an annual fee with these cards and they range anywhere from $20 to as much as $150. A card with no annual fee is going to be extremely hard to find.
If you’re in the market to repair your credit, this is going to be the only way possible because if you went the prepaid card route, these cards don’t report to the major bureaus since they act like gift cards. On the other hand, always make sure that the secured card that you apply for does report to the bureaus. If it doesn’t, you’ll soon find out that you’re using a credit card for nothing. A bad credit card on the other hand is a little different but will have higher fees. Repairing credit takes some time and as long as you work hard to pay off your debts and use your cards responsibly, you’ll see your credit score rise significantly over the next couple of years.