Pony Of Prey Blog

Store cards and credit cards have their advantages and disadvantages, but which is best for you. In this article we point out some basics to help you take control of your spending.

Store Cards

Do you have a store card? How many do you have? Do you know how much you are spending on each?

Store cards are a great idea if you use them properly, but they can cause huge amounts of personal financial damage if you don’t take control.

When you are offered a store card here a few things to bear in mind:

1. Get very clear on what the offer is exactly. Most stores will offer a card with a promotional deal - say 10% off any purchases that day and for the next week. So what exactly is the offer and how long does it last?

2. Sometimes store cards are heavily pushed during a sale. Again, what’s the offer - for example, do you get 10% off sale items too?

3. What are the privileges you get as a store card holder? Do you get a discount every time you shop? Do you get reward points of some kind? Do you get special preview events for new ranges? And what are the details - how many points, how many previews a year?

4. How much credit are they offering you? And can you handle it - or will it make you feel like a kid in a candy store?

5. What are the repayment terms exactly? What’s the minimum repayment? What’s the APR - during the offer period and after the offer period?

6. Are you bothered? It’s easy to take up what seems like a great offer with no effort on your part. But remember you would probably have bought the things you are buying even if there was no store card being waved in your face. Do you really want another piece of plastic, another debt?

7. Can you get the things you want cheaper elsewhere anyway? Most things you usually can do.

8. Can you pay for the things you want using your credit card? Credit cards usually have a much lower APR than store cards - so unless you can afford to make repayments in full, you could well lose in interest payments what you gain in special offers.

Credit Cards

The same kind of questions can be asked about credit cards:

How many do you have?
Do you know what you’re spending?
Are you in control?
What are the special offers - low interest, 0% balance transfers, etc?
What’s the credit limit and can you handle it?
What are the repayment terms, including APR?

The major differences from a store card are that you can use a credit card almost anywhere, and that the APR is usually a lot lower. It’s also a lot easier to control your spending if it’s all on one card.

So when you’ve weighed up both kinds of card, what should you do? Here’s a couple of ideas:

1. For general use, have just one credit card. Keep the credit limits low and in control.

2. If you are offered a store card and there’s an unbeatable opening offer on your purchase, take it. Then, if you can’t pay off the debt in one go, use your credit card to pay it off so that you at least get lower interest charges. Next, when your shiny new plastic card arrives, cut it up! Seriously. If you don’t destroy it you (or someone in your family) will spend on it and the debt spiral will continue.

Craig Brown
The American Credit Cards Guide: http://www.americancreditcardsguide.com

Credit scores are used to do everything from allow you to get a new car, a new house, a new credit card, and even new insurance. If you have a good credit score, you will then practically have a skeleton key to all the financial doors in your life, and opportunity will open for you, in the shape of low mortgage rates, zero percentage car loans, etc. But if you have a bad credit score, forget about it. Doors will slam shut in your face. And those that do stay open will charge you high interest rates with terrible restrictions.

All this for some number that you may have no clue where it comes from. That is the problem with credit scores. They are so important to our everyday lives, but so few people understand them. That makes them seem so unfair. But in reality, if you do understand your credit score, you can control it, and it will make your whole financial situation seem a lot fairer in the long run.

First, understand, your credit score comes from a relatively complex mathematical formula, or algorithm. It comes from all the information in your credit report, and is relative to the information in the credit reports of the millions of other people in the United States. Credit companies use credit scores because when it comes down to it, they are highly accurate in predicting how likely you are to paying off your debts. See them as the SATs for your bills. The higher your score, the smarter you are about paying them off.

The way the scoring works is this: credit scores go from 300 to 850. Most people have scores between 600 and 800, meaning for the most part, Americans are pretty good about their debts.

Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Let’s say you only have a score at 500. Will that make you lose a lot of sleep? Or better yet, will it make your life that much more expensive than someone with a score of 700? The experts all say yes to both counts. You should be worried about your score because, yes, you are losing a lot of money because of it.

That’s because that seemingly little difference in credit scores200 pointscould mean as much as three a half points more on a credit interest rate. So instead of a 6 percent rate on your mortgage, which the 700 scorer would get, you’d get perhaps as high as 9.5 percent as your rate. Over the course of a mortgage, those extra percentage points could cost your thousands upon thousands of dollars.

Joshua Shapiro recommends Find Credit Cards to find a Bank First credit card that’s tailored to suit your financial needs.

You will see many lenders these days offering 0% APR credit cards. If you are thinking of applying for a 0% APR credit card, it is well worth taking the time to research and compare all the offers and benefits available. Although many company’s offer 0% interest credit cards, in most cases it is for an introductory period only. You should take the time to compare the agreements and conditions carefully, as these vary considerably from lender to lender. It’s also important that you take into consideration the permanent rates that the lender charges. While 0% interest credit cards may look tempting, it’s no use entering into an agreement if you struggle to make payments because the permanent rate is too high.

The benefits of a 0% APR credit card may seem obvious, you don’t pay any interest! But many of the 0% interest cards also offer other benefits. Some come with reward schemes like rebates, others with cash back offers. The reward scheme applies to your purchases, where the lender may give you a percentage of cash back for every dollar you spend. They may also have a reward scheme where you can accumulate points depending on how much you spend. These points can then be exchanged for merchandise which the companies offer to their customers. While the points on offer are strictly in favor of the card company, you can still save on the retail purchase price of these goods, which is a benefit.

If you are currently paying interest on your current card or cards, why not think about changing to a 0% APR credit card? If you have a few cards the monthly payments can soon become a considerable sum. You can save yourself money by changing to one of the 0% interest cards. Just think, instead of paying out maybe $100 or so a month in interest, you could be paying out a lot less while reducing the amount you owe.

Most banks or credit card companies will allow you to transfer the outstanding balance you have on your current card to one of their 0% interest credit cards. That means you could consolidate all your outstanding balances on your current cards by transferring them to your new 0% APR credit cards. Some lenders may have a limit on the total money you are allowed to transfer. It’s important that you read the terms of the offer and understand them fully before committing yourself to an agreement. You don’t want to be penalized by any fees you may have to pay if transferring a balance.

The new lender you have transferred your balance to, may have a time limit on their 0% interest credit cards. If you want to keep your payments low, or keep reducing your balance then you should think about changing your card or transferring the balance before the 0% APR credit cards offer runs out. It is worth checking your agreement at this stage just to make sure you will not incur a fee for transferring your balance to another card.

If you’ve done your homework and chosen the correct card in the first place, this shouldn’t be a problem. You should start to look for your new 0% APR credit cards, or card, a month or so before your offer terminates. This will give you time to apply and be able to transfer your balance as soon as your 0% interest credit cards offer ends.

There is an important fact about a 0% APR credit card that most people overlook. Most agreements state you must make ALL your 0% APR credit card payments on time. If you make a late payment on your 0% interest credit cards then the offer becomes invalid immediately.

In the infancy of online credit card applications, it was possible to apply for a credit card and receive not only confirmation of your approval, but also the card’s 16 digit number and expiration date as well. Getting a credit card online was truly an instant process back in the early days. For a wide away of reasons, identify theft being a major one, the instant online credit card approval process has changed. While a handful of credit card issuers will provide instant online credit card decisions, the vast majority of “instant credit cards” aren’t that instant anymore.

At present, American Express is the major credit card issuer that advertises and delivers instant credit decisions upon submission of an online application. To be precise, they offer 60 second decisions. If you are approved, you are given notice of your status. If you do not qualify for online approval, then your application is reviewed and you are notified of your decision via mail. For consumers with good to excellent credit looking for an instant credit card, American Express credit cards might be the best place to start.

The remaining players in the credit card industry generally take anywhere from five to seven business days before reaching an approval decision. With some companies, you can expect to wait as much as 30 days. Yes, 30 days. So is the instant credit card gone? In a nutshell, the “instant” answer is yes.

Individuals that are in a rush to get a new credit card, for whatever reason, can now expect to wait at least five business days to get the card they applied for. The length of this wait varies not only between companies, but also, within companies. For example, if a particular company decides to take more time than usual before making an approval decision, you may be waiting on a decision for a few weeks. These far from instant decisions often effect people with borderline credit more so than those with excellent credit.

So what should one do if they truly need an “instant credit card”? One solution is to consider applying for credit cards from different issuing banks. Since each bank varies in its approval time, applying for credit cards from different companies can expedite the process of obtaining an “instant credit card.”

This also provides you the opportunity to make a more informed decision on which credit card to accept. A quick glimpse at the fine print of most credit cards will show you a simple and important fact: the lowest APR available is not necessarily the one you will be granted. Thus, if you apply for three credit cards from three different companies, you have the ability to evaluate the actual APRs you are given and make a more informed decision. Yes, you will probably be waiting over a week to make your decision about which “instant credit card” to use. However, you will be ultimately saving yourself money on interest in the long term.

So, perhaps the end of the “instant credit card” is not such a bad thing after all. Aside from protecting you from identity theft, the waiting time consumers must now endure before the completion of the approval process allows you time to evaluate the credit cards you are approved for and make more thoughtful decisions on which “instant credit card” is the right one for you.

Jeffrey Weber operates the website http://www.Credit-Card-Depot.com For over two years, Credit Card Depot has helped consumers by providing them with the information they need to make informed credit card decisions. To learn more about and apply online for Instant Credit Cards including American Express credit cards that offer online approval decisions visit Credit Card Depot.

Applying for a credit card is more than filling out a form and signing your name. It is very important to understand the responsibility behind a credit card. Credit cards are responsible for many people falling into debt and ending up with credit problems that plague them for years. There are some great tips on how to apply for a credit card that every consumer should know before signing that bottom line.

Credit cards are basically a loan. You are borrowing the credit card companies money to make purchases that you will then pay back in installments or at a certain time of the month. They give you the freedom to make purchases, even when your bank account is low. They can also be helpful when making large purchases you can not afford to make in cash because you have the option of paying it back in monthly installments. These are some of the perks of having a credit card.

There are also downfalls to credit card usage. Some people misuse their credit cards and buy things that are way out of their spending limit. They run up credit card debt and when combined with interest rates and other fees, end up with a debt they have a hard time paying back. They then end up with extra fees for paying late or being over their credit limit. Credit cards can mean big trouble if a consumer is not careful.

Applying for a credit card involves filling out a form. This form asks for your personal information like telephone number, address and social security number. You also have to provide information about your income, including your employer’s name, address and phone number. You are given a page of information about the interest rates, fees and other charges and then asked to sign saying you agree to these terms. It is important to be honest about your information. Many times the credit card company will check out your information and being dishonest may mean you are denied.

Understanding the terms can mean the difference between a good credit rating and a bad credit rating. These terms tell you how much interest will be charged to your purchases. It also explains how long you have to pay off your purchases before these interest charges kick in. there is also important information about charges for going over you credit limit or paying late. Before you sign you should completely understand everything that is in the credit card terms.

Applying for a credit card is a matter of reading and writing. You need to read all the information included with the credit card offer and once you decide to sign up for the card, make sure you fill out the information completely. The best tips on how to apply for a credit card are to simply understand the terms and be truthful in your application.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning Credit Cards.
Get the information you are seeking now by visiting
Apply For Credit Cards