Many people simply gloss over these numbers and it's silly for them to do this because when they don't stop to consider the interest rates they could literally be throwing money away each month. Interest rates affect the affordability of everything in our lives and they are important whether you have just one debt card or many of them.
Debt Cards, Interest Rates, And You
Are you wondering why interest rates should be important to you? It's simple really, they are important because they determine how much you are paying in addition to the charges that you make each month.
For instance, if you have a card with an 18% interest rate and your balance was $3,000 you would be paying roughly $540 in interest but if you had a card with an eight percent interest rate you would be paying just $240 in interest! This is a big difference because who couldn't use an extra $300 in the bank?
When you have debt it is important that you know what you are paying the card company for the convenience of using their money. Even if you didn't pay attention to this in the past it is not too late to look into it now.
If you find that you are paying a lot in finance charges you can always transfer your balance to a card with a lower finance rate. When you do this you could be saving yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.
If you have more than one store or debt card you may find that you are able to save even more. If you have several cards with several thousand dollars on each and you are paying large financing charges you are literally throwing your money away.
You need to seek out options that are going to give you lower interest rates because it will allow you to pay off your debts quicker and stop accumulating so much in the way of late and finance charges. Who doesn't want to find a way to decrease the debt that they have? This is a straightforward way to do just that.
As you can see, the finance or interest rates on any given card are important to you. You might have not even known what these numbers mean before, but now that you do, you need to be more selective. You'll find that the rates vary wildly from card to card and that some are many points lower than the other.
The lower the rates the more affordable the cards will be for you. If you have a card already that has a very high rate when you start shopping around, you should definitely look into paying off the balance with a loan or transferring the balance to another card with a better financing rate.
Interest Rates On Credit Cards
Stoozing can reduce interest paid on credit cards. Many credit card companies offer special introductory interest rate offers in an attempt to win customers. This is like a loss leader in a shop - they tempt you to use their credit cards with a low interest rate, and then increase the APR when you owe them money. Stoozers use these special 0% and low interest rate offers to reduce the amount of interest paid over time. Many credit card customers in the UK have high balances on which they pay high interest rates. Normal interest rates on credit cards are higher than mortgages and loans - it would not be unusual to save thousands of pounds per year by stoozing.
A stoozer will take advantage of introductory rates by applying for a credit card with 0% apr and transferring their existing credit card balance to it.
After six or nine months (or whenever the free balance transfer period ends) they will apply for a new credit card and begin the interest free period again. This can continue until the debt is repaid, saving hundreds of pounds in interest.
Some people who stooze do not have debts. They put the money into a high interest savings account (such as an ISA) instead. In this way the stoozer will actually earn interest.
Both Ajeet Khurana & Nicky Pilkington are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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