You probably do not want a credit card for other, more practical reasons, like the fact that you don't want to deal with interest rates, or you're too scared you won't be able to pay off your debt faster than you can rack it up. Here are a few tips to help put your mind at ease, so that if you get a credit card, it won't be because your friends told you to, and it won't be because of those little fears that hold you back.
1. The part about getting a credit card that people are worried about the most is the question of whether or not you can control your debt. Honestly, that part is up to you, the card holder. Whether or not you can control your spending habits to stay in correspondence with your payment ability depends upon your discipline skills.
Remember, the biggest goal here is to stay as far out of debt as possible while still taking advantage of the convenience that credit cards offer us in a modern and technological world.
A great way to do that is to pay off your debt on a regular basis, balancing the amount you spend and the amount you pay back so that your debt does not exceed your payment ability. Paying off credit cards regularly will be great for your credit score because it shows that you are disciplined in managing your credit and paying back what you owe.
2. Another hassle of credit cards is the interest rate issue. There are tons of cases where a card holder was shocked to discover that their interest rate had shot up after a late payment, or even for no reason they knew of. The best way to avoid this is to make sure you know the terms on your credit card.
It may start out with a great interest rate, but those percentages sometimes have an expiration date written in a very small font size on the back of a 5000 word agreement. As painful as it may be, read that fine print and know what you're getting into before you take the credit card plunge. Also find out how high your rates will increase with late fees, and what other kinds of penalties you could receive.
3. Something that you can't control is theft. Having your credit card stolen can create some serious credit damage if the stolen card is not canceled and is misused. To avoid this, the best thing you can do is call the credit card company immediately and cancel your credit card account, making it completely void and gives you peace of mind.
Because of this option, the person who stole your card has no way of spending the money. If they had stolen cold hard cash, there's no way you could stop them from spending it, and you would never get it back.
Is your credit rating low? Getting credit cards when you have bad credit isnt easy. In fact, its easier to wind up with a bad credit card than with a good credit card. Predatory lenders capitalize on your limited choices and your desperation to trap you into high interest, fee ridden credit card agreements that will add to the amount of debt you carry and make it hard to dig your way out. Scan your offers of credit cards to spot these signs that you should reject certain offers: * Sky high interest rates. When you have poor credit, youll pay higher interest no matter what, but predatory credit card rates are well beyond anything reasonable. Search online to find out what the average interest rate for credit cards currently is, and reject anything thats elevated too high above the average. * Monthly or weekly fees. Legitimate credit cards absolutely never charge weekly or monthly fees. Credit cards that charge monthly or weekly fees almost always have extremely small lines of credit. This is a feature, not a bug. The credit card company wants the fees to accrue so quickly that your line of credit is devoured by fees, not by charges. You get to charge almost nothing before you have no credit left, and the lender spends the next months or years collecting steep fees from you for the privilege of not being able to use your credit card. * Loans or credit applications that require you to pay a fee up front. Charging a fee before a loan is actualized is illegal. If a company asks you to shell out any money at all before your loan or credit line is approved (even if they say you are pre approved), refuse the offer and report the company to the relevant authorities. * Unethical billing practices. If a company pulls a stunt like sending you a bill in which the due date is the same as the mailing date, meaning that the bill arrives in your mailbox already past due, they are predatory. Close your account for your own safety, and start sending in payments on your own, without waiting for the bill to arrive in the mail. These are only a few of the signs that a credit card lender is predatory. Do your research well and thoroughly before you start looking for credit cards that will accept borrowers with bad credit. You are in a vulnerable position, and you need credit cards that will help you up, not push you down.