Credit card Gimmicks
Today, people think we have to own credit cards, and we think we are supposed to in this society. Without owning a credit card, you can't rent a car, but a house, or reserve for a hotel. Without a credit card, you are considered as "lacking" in money, social position, and moral. The first time I owned a credit card was five years ago, considered as just in case, under my parents' name.
Younger children owe credits cards more and more as time goes by. On the other hand, the more and more problems are happening along with the growing number of the owners. One of the biggest issue is invisible debts by using credit cards. According to the research of Glamour, "the average American now carries balances totaling $3,800 at 17.8 percent interest, or $676 a year." There are two ways to get out of this picture, first to stop owning a card, second to find a credit card with a lower interest (at this moment 14 percent interest is available as the lowest.)
If you want to survive in a credit card society, it is one way to keep switching the company before their introductory interest ends. You may not qualify for the next card if you do it too much. One thing you want to be careful with is to pay attention to the introductory interest. Many owners neglect paying for the bill for the early stage, and by the time you are rushed to pay, you no more have a lower interest rate. Smart customers use whatever advantage they are given by the company.
There are so many tricks in their advertisement. They trick you with free airline tickets, phone calls, or retail stores. Some even offer you cash back, such as Discovery or GE Rewards MasterCard. But don't be tricked. "If you charge $2,500 a year and carry a $1,500 balance on the GE Rewards MasterCard (up to a 19.5 percent rate), you'll get $15 cash back but pay $292.50 in interest per year. Carry the same balance on a 14 percent card and you'll pay interest of #210 per year, for a total savings of $67.50.
Gold cards may be tricky, too. They require you more annual fee, and get higher credit limit. However, a research shows that "fewer than 15 percent of gold-card holders ever take advantage of such benefits." Having a gold card means a lot to some people, but, it is not always necessary to have one.
As I was tricked, "charity" phrase makes you feel it's part of your responsibility to own it. However, only a tiny percent of our interest goes to charity. First of all, if the company is a really sincere to all of the humanities, why don't they lower their interest?
The research also shows that, usually college students are charged higher interest than general because students can fall behind on their payments often. There are a thousand of companies visiting the campus, and they are just trying to get their "future users" as early as they can by charging more interest.
There are still goo offering credit companies. "one of the best offers on the list at press time: the AFBA Industrial Bank Visa Card (800-776-2265) carries no fee and an interest rate of just 8.5 percent for the first six months, 11.4 percent thereafter.
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