Know Your Credit Card
Credit cards are a great way to manage ones monthly cash flow, build credit, earn rewards, and insure purchases. At the same time they are not to be taken lightly. Someone should only get a credit card if they are capable of repaying whatever they spend on it. Credit cards should be looked at as financial tools that deliver value for their users and not as means of debt as there interest can be very high and they can ruin your credit score if they go unpaid.
There are three specific types of credit cards to think about – 1) Rewards Cards 2) Low Interest Cards 3) Credit Cards for Bad Credit
Rewards Credit Cards
Rewards credit cards can be very useful if you defer the majority of your purchases to these cards so that you get the most out of bonus categories and your general points. These cards come in many different types and forms. The main two that we will focus on are Cash and Travel Rewards Cards.
Cash Back Rewards Cards
-Cash back rewards give you a percentage of what you spend on your credit card back in cash, these rewards can give you cash rewards between 1%-5% on the total amount spent on your card. Many cash rewards cards have bonuses where they give there card members extra rewards on purchases at the market, gas station, or movie theater.
Travel Rewards Cards
-Travel Rewards Cards give you rewards that can be redeemed for airline travel or hotel rooms. These cards may be associated with a particular airline or hotel, and card members will choose the Travel card based on where they most like to stay so they get the most out of their rewards. Their also other Travel cards that let you spend your points on any airline or hotel, these are beneficial for people who travel a lot but don’t have want to be locked into one hotel or airline
Low Interest Credit Cards
If you plan to carry a balance on your credit card it’s important to look for credit cards with low interest rates. Many credit cards charge high interest rates which may be upwards of 24% or there low interest rates may be short term but there are credit cards out there that have low interest rates. The key is to make sure to know what your credit cards interest rate is and what are the rules underlying that rate. Note that Secured credit cards also charge a much lower interest rate.
Credit Cards for Bad Credit
If you have bad credit or are looking to build credit consider a secured credit card. To open a secured credit card you deposit funds with the card issuer in order to establish a line of credit. You can then charge the card against the balance you have deposited with the bank. This is not a credit card in the classic sense that you are not being floated credit but these cards allow you to build credit which is one of the most important tasks in our financial lives.
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