Credit card costs can raise the amount you pay, for everything you buy, if you make the purchase with a card. Everyone with the least bit of sense is trying to lower their expenses. Let’s face it, there are no greater rip-offs than those associated with credit cards. So what ever you can do to keep these costs low is well worth your time.
The time to set yourself up to keep these costs under control is in your past. If you have maintained a clean credit history, you are in great shape to keep your card costs low or even non-existent. It makes you eligible for the best deals on your cards.
Sadly for some the outlook is not so bright. They are the people who have not kept their credit lives in order. The cards available to them will make you shake in your boots. You would not want to walk a mile in their shoes.
I did a quick search for credit cards, both for good and bad credit applicants. What a difference the results are. The bad credit folks have cards that they can apply for, but the terms are ridiculous. Most have limits of $250 to $300 which are gobbled up in the first month by the set up fees associated with these cards. I found more than one example that went some thing like this:
Processing Fee $29.00
Program Fee $95.00
Annual Fee $48.00
Servicing Fee $84.00
Additional Card $20.00
Just to set up the account! To be fair I should note that the annual rate of interest was pegged at 9.9%. There were others that had similar fees where the annual rate of interest is 59.9% (that is right, it is not a typo), and they have no shame in telling you right up front.
You should be glad you don’t find yourself in that credit card mire.
So what is available to you and how do you best take advantage of your circumstances?
You need to find a no annual fee card. This is not hard. Just plug the term “no annual fee credit card” into your favorite search engine and you will see a wealth of results. The reason you want a no annual fee card is to keep your credit costs as close to zero as possible.
With your new no fee card in hand (wallet or purse would even be better) here is what you do now. Only use the card for purchases that you can pay for in full when the statement comes at the end of the month. This is the only way you can avoid interest charges on your purchases. If you can’t pay the balance in full do not put it on your card. This needs to be a hard and fast rule – no exceptions. By the way this make the interest rate associated with the card meaningless, because you will never pay it.
If you can couple these two things, a no annual fee card and judicious use of that card you will cut your credit cost from that card to nothing. You will use it only as a tool of convenience and keep that stellar credit rating that allowed you to qualify for it in the beginning.