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Many Easy Ways to Save Money and Lighten Your
Debt Load
Credit cards were not a common buying method for our parents
and earlier generations. Yet, since the early 1990s, credit
card debt has increased significantly. Even people as old as
80-plus are suffering from the risk of potential bankruptcy and
other losses due to their lack of advice or knowledge on how to
manage their credit cards more efficiently.
Often people over 50 do not own a computer or are unable to
navigate the Internet to locate valuable information. Even if
you don’t own a computer, you may be able to use a computer at
your local library. Contact your local community college and
inquire about its adult education program for seniors. Ask
about classes on Internet navigation and computer literacy
skills.
Set-up fees are made when a new credit card is purchased. This
fee is for all the work that goes into setting up your
card.
Credit limit increase fees are paid for increasing the amount
of credit that’s on your card. So if you had a card for $2,000,
and you ask for $1,000 more, you’ll be charged a credit limit
increase fee to get more money on your card.
Cash advance fees are used for setting up a cash advance. It
could be a percentage of the cash advance, or just a flat
fee.
Other fees include things such as customer service and looking
into your account. Some credit card companies even charge you
fees for using your card over the phone.
Interest rates for credit cards are fees you pay in addition to
paying back the money you originally spent on the credit card.
The card collects interest over time, and you pay this back
inside your other payments. Really the only way to avoid or
lower interest rates would be to pay your monthly bill, in
full, on time each month.
There are usually three ways that credit card interest rates
are calculated. The first is known as the previous balance
method, the next is the average daily balance method, and the
last is known as the adjusted balance method.
The first method (previous balance) is calculated by the
finance charge based on the amount of last month’s
payments.
The second method (average daily balance) is calculated by the
daily balance on every day of your pay period, subtracting
received (made) payments, divided by the number of days in your
pay period. If you make your payment earlier, this method of
calculating interest rates will not be as high.
The final method is the adjusted balance method. This payment
is determined by subtracting all the payments you made during
your current payment from the last balance you paid on your
last pay period.
Credit card interest rates can be determined by several other
factors. For starters, the more your card is worth, that is,
the more money that’s on your card, the higher your interest
rate is likely to be. Also, the amount of time you keep your
card and the amount of time it takes to pay your monthly
balance can have a role in your interest rate as well. Annual
fees on credit cards can also determine how high your interest
rate will be. Other random fees can influence the amount of
your interest rates, too.
Some credit card companies have no interest rate, but most of
them do. If a credit card company has no interest rate, this
usually means that your other fees, such as annual fees and
late payment fees will be higher, so the company is pretty much
making up for the money they would have lost with no interest
rate in the first place.
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