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Like most things connected with personal finance, the area of credit cards is sometimes awash with jargon and impenetrable language. You only need to pass an eye over your credit card issuer's Terms and Conditions section of their web site to see how fond of technical language they are - in fact, cynics might suggest that card companies like to make their conditions as hard as possible to understand so that they can quietly change the way they operate your account without you noticing.

Although we're unlikely to see simplified wording in the near or even distant future, properly understanding a few of the more common terms will be a great help when you're reviewing the market to choose the best deal on your next credit card.

Allocation of Payments

This phrase refers to how your repayments are used to clear your debt. Although you are shown a single balance on your statement, your account is actually made up of various chunks of debt charged at different rates, for example purchases, balance transfers, and cash withdrawals. The allocation of payments sets out the order in which these debt chunks will be repaid. Normally, the cheapest rate of debt is repaid first - probably a 0% balance transfer - and this must be completely cleared before any of the more expensive debts will be reduced. For the credit card companies, this has the happy side effect of increasing the total amount of interest they earn on your account. For you, it means you should try and stay clear of the expensive forms of debt such as cash advances.

Interest Free Period

If you clear your credit card in full every month, and never carry any debt from one statement to the next, you will normally be able to enjoy a delay between spending on the card and being charged interest on what you've spent. This interest free period is also known as a grace period, and is usually in the region of 50 to 60 days.

Typical APR

The APR, or Annual Percentage Rate, is the basic measure of how much interest your card charges on your debt, and the lower the figure, the better. The Typical APR is the rate that at least two thirds of successful applicants will be offered, and was introduced to stop card issuers heavily advertising extremely low rates that in fact only a tiny minority of applicants would be offered.

Minimum Repayment

This is simply the smallest amount you have to pay each month after receiving your statement. It is normally in the region of 3% but has drifted inexorably down over the years, meaning that if you only pay the minimum it will take longer and longer to clear the debt, costing you dearly in terms of interest.

Cash Advances

These are an expensive way of using your credit card, either by withdrawing cash physically from an ATM using your card, or by using the card in some designated outlets such as casinos. The rate charged is normally much higher than the standard APR, and because of allocation of payments, cash advances will be the very last part of your debt to be repaid and will cost you the most in interest, and so for this reason they should generally be avoided.

There are dozens if not hundreds of other pieces of jargon related to credit cards and finance in general, but hopefully this article has cleared up a few unknowns for you and will be of assistance in choosing your next card wisely.

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Many consumers are discovering that their credit card payments are all but eating up every penny of disposable income that they have at the end of the month. What may be a surprise to some is that this cash crunch is no longer a problem only for those with lower incomes. Consumers of all income levels are struggling to make ends meet. If you happen to be one of those consumers, here are some tips that might help.

For many consumers who are having trouble meeting their bills at the end of month because they have too many credit card payments to make, one answer is to freeze some or all of the cards. Freezing a card begins by putting the card away somewhere and not using it for additional purchases and especially not using it for cash advances. If your credit cards are not in your wallet or in your purse you cannot use them. It is that simple.

If you find that you simply have to use the card then make sure that it is used only for those items that are essential for living, such as food. Even so, there is really no way to bring your expenses down per month until you begin to eliminate future purchases placed on your credit cards.

If your credit card payments are really high and you feel you may be at risk of not being able to pay them on time, you may need to consider a bill consolidation plan. A bill consolidation plan is a program that is worked out with a third-party. The third-party agrees to pay off your credit card balances and then invoice you once a month for a single payment. In almost all cases, this single payment made to the third-party agency will be less than what you have been paying in the past for the credit card payments.

In other words, if you have been paying, say, $500 a month to the various credit card companies, you may be able to make a deal with a consolidation agency that requires you to pay only $300 per month. This allows you to keep extra cash in the household budget each month.

These consolidation loans are not without some drawbacks, however. The first is that you will probably have to pay longer in order to get the balance owed to them down to zero. Second, most of these transactions end up on your credit report. They may not cause your credit score to drop by much but they are entered onto the reports and some future lender may not approve a loan because of it.

For many of today's consumers, issues with future credit are not as important as taking care of today's problems. Being late on your credit card payments will certainly hurt your credit history and bankruptcy is also a major blow. With that being the case for many people, bill consolidation programs are a good idea as it beats the alternatives.

Even with a bill consolidation loan, it is imperative that the consumer not get any further into debt. This happens more often than you might imagine. A family suddenly discovers they have more money at the end of the month after they have taken out a bill consolidation loan and the first thing they do is use it to get right back into trouble. Do not let that happen to you.

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Both Michael D. Strauss & Peter Kenny 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.

Michael D. Strauss has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, A Secured Loan and Finances. Michael writes for the advice and comparison site Card Sense, where you can compare. Michael D. Strauss's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.

Peter Kenny has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Finances and Best Money Market. Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at and. Peter Kenny's top article generates over 368000 views. to your Favourites.

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