Tips to reduce credit card cost

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 12:23
Forums

Hi everyone
I had a huge credit card debt which included the late payments and interest. I negotiated for a settlement plan with the collection agencies to whom my debts have been sold and has succeeded in getting a discount on my outstanding debt and has cleared off. I have a number of credit cards of which I use a few, but I have to pay annual charges for these cards. Can anybody in this forum give tips to reduce credit card cost?

Hi Frank
If you want to reduce your credit card cost all you need to do is to first search for those cards which have no annual charges. There are several credit cards on offer which have no annual charges. Now since you have a large number of credit cards, first find out those with no annual charges and then make new purchases only on those cards and repay them back on time, so that you can build up a good credit history only on those cards with no annual charges. Now once you build up a good credit history on those cards, close the cards with annual charges. Although your credit score will fall, but this fall in credit score will be compensated by the increase in score due to building up of a good credit history on the cards with no annual charges. In this way you can reduce some cost of maintaining credit cards.

Tue, 11/25/2008 - 12:52 Permalink

Yes, Mary is right. One of the most significant cost of maintaining a good credit card is its annual charges which vary from one company to another. Another thing is the interest that the cc companies charges on your debt. If you find that you have a huge amount of debt and the debt is still not reported to the credit bureaus, you can go for zero APR balance transfer credit cards where you can get a introductory interest free period of balance transfer for a period of upto 12 months. Moreover, it is also advisable not to take cash advance on credit cards since there is a cash advance fees associated with almost all the credit cards. In this way, you can always limit your credit card cost and help yourself to build up a good credit history.

Tue, 11/25/2008 - 13:01 Permalink

Cash advance fees usually always come with a high fee. I would advice not having more cards than you can handle. A good idea was mentioed by Jstin about zero percent interest cards. I would try to put my debt onto one of these cards and not use the ones with annual fees. If it were me and even if it gave a small ding to my credit I would not be holding a bunch of cards with annual fees. That could really add up every year.

Wed, 11/26/2008 - 02:57 Permalink

Hi
I think that if we can pay off the debt by the interest free grace period, we can reduce much cost of the credit card. Moreover, you may opt for repayment plans on your existing credit card debt where you may get a lower interest rate to pay off the debts instead of accumulating debts on your credit cards at high interest rates and paying them off when you get money on hand. Balance transfer from one credit card to another is also a good option if you have huge debt on a particular card.

Wed, 11/26/2008 - 12:00 Permalink

Most people look for credit cards with no annual fees. Although it is true that annual fees add to extra cost of maintaining a credit card, but there are also other fees associated with the increase in cost. One such charge include the late payment charge which is generally 10$ to 15$ or 5% of the total amount due or whichever is higher. Moreover, when you convert your expenditure into monthly repayment plan, the credit card company charges about 2% of the outstanding amount as processing fees. To avoid such charges, you should try and spend such amount which you can repay back within the interest free period. You should also avoid spending on your credit card during the end of the billing cycle because you will lose the interest free period.

Wed, 11/26/2008 - 12:42 Permalink

hey justin i wann ask that , i have made by transaction through credit card and they have charged some assesment tax is this type of tax is valid.others reply will be appreciated

Regards
-----------
Aby

Wed, 02/18/2009 - 10:39 Permalink
MIAJenn (not verified)

Hey just becoming a member, glad to be here! I'm Norma and I'm inspired by my husband, I'm a fan of running and currently being healthy :)

I've been involved in some other forums and have observed this put to have much much better subject matter, so it can make sense to finally submit!

BTW where is the option to make myself have a cool title like some people here have?

Thu, 02/03/2011 - 00:28 Permalink
Juicemissy (not verified)

Hey just becoming a member, glad to be in! I'm Aliya and I'm inspired by my near death experience, I enjoy working and being healthful :)

Sooo anyways, enough about me, see you about and hello yet again haha.

BTW where is the option to change the little picture thingy like some people have, I like it but can't figure it out haha

Thu, 02/03/2011 - 05:13 Permalink
MIAmissy (not verified)

Hey just becoming a member, glad to be in! I'm Dani and I'm inspired by life, I enjoy running and becoming healthful :)

I've been involved in some other forums and have observed this location to have considerably far better content material, so it helps make sense to last but not least post!

BTW where is the option to change the time zone for my account? It's kind of weird having the time like 5 hours off lol

Fri, 02/04/2011 - 13:13 Permalink
matzcrorkz (not verified)

UKHepb Thank you for your article.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.

Mon, 08/04/2014 - 09:04 Permalink
crorkz matz (not verified)

reBLje Hey, thanks for the article post.Really thank you! Really Great.

Tue, 08/05/2014 - 10:35 Permalink