March 10, 2020

Time and again, on this blog, we have stressed the importance of paying off your balance before your due date. The primary reason behind this advice is that unless you do so, you run the risk of paying exorbitant rates of interest. When you apply for a credit card, the issuing company indicates the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) that you may be subject to. This can vary anywhere between 9.99% and 3...

March 5, 2020

If you’ve just received a new credit card, you must be excited about putting it to use. However, to get the most out of this instrument, it is advisable that you first get a few things out of the way: Activation: Before you use a new credit card, you must first activate it. To do this, follow the instructions on the sticker on the front of the card. Usually, you need to call the 800 number ...

March 3, 2020

It’s difficult to do without a credit card these days – this piece of plastic not only saves you from carrying bundles of cash everywhere and provides you with perks and benefits such as cash-back and travel points. However, given that different individuals have different needs and different spending patterns, it is obvious that the same credit card that works so wonderfully well for ...

February 25, 2020

We recently had a customer tell us that, though he charges high amounts to his credit card each month, he makes it a point to pay off his balance in full each billing cycle. Yet after 20 years of diligently paying off his balance in full and never missing a payment, he realized that this practice actually hurt his credit score. While the above statement may sound surprising, it is true neverthele...

February 11, 2020

Earning reward points on credit card spending is exciting; however, it can often take months and hundreds of dollars of spending to accumulate enough points to avail of some substantial benefit. Perhaps that is why, if you were to lose your hard-earned credit card reward points, you would feel as unhappy as you would if you lost cash from your wallet. It’s true; there are certain circumstan...

February 4, 2020

Individuals with fair or average credit are those whose FICO scores range between 630 – 689. For consumers with excellent credit, a wide variety of credit cards are available – most of these offer excellent perks such as hefty sign-up bonuses. People who have fair credit are usually not eligible for these cards; however, they can still sign up for certain credit cards that offer benef...