Friday, February 10, 2012

3 Things You Should Know About Credit Cards

Getting into too much credit card debt can lead you into feeling like you struggling to get out of a sandpit.  the more youtry to get out of debt, the deeper you sink in the pit.  More than 60 percent of Americans are more that 30 days late on their credit card payments.  Credit cards will be a thorn in your side until you decide to take action and get yourself out of the debt that has held you down.

Here is what you need to know about credit card debt.
1) Credit Card companies want you to only pay the minimum payments so that they can make the most amount of money off on you by requiring that you pay the interest plus a few dollars.  A $500 credit card could take you 3 to 4 years to pay if you focus on paying the minimum payments only.  So the higher your credit limit and the number of card that you have the worse off you are.  Oay off the cards as fast as you can.

2) High Credit Card Balances hurt your credit score.  Holding balances on you card that are 50% of your credit limits or higher will actually lower your credit FICO score.  Hold a credit balance between 5 to 15% of your credit limits and watch your credit FICO score rise.

3) Inactive Credit card accounts can hurt your credit score and you in the long run.  My rule is that if you have not used your credit card in the past year, then it is time to close the account with the creditor and cut up the card. You could acquire quick debt if you were ever to loss the card or have it stolen.  It's a good practice to close the account and distroy the card.

I hope that my suggestions are able to answer any questions that your questions.  Please reply if you have anything to add and would like to start a productive discussion.

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