The trouble with credit cards

Credit cards are something of a necessary evil in today's high technology world. You need them to rent cars, buy airline tickets, purchase on-line, and so on. The problem is when you start using them to buy groceries, buy gas, and in other words live on as if they were income and not mounting high interest debt. The average consumer carries nearly 12 different credit cards. You need to look at your credit cards, how you use them, the interest rates they carry and how much you owe. Credit cards can be a good thing, just learn how to use them wisely and stay out of debt.

Say goodbye to high interest

List all your credit cards, balances and interest rates on a sheet of paper and put them in order from highest interest rate to the lowest. Any cards that are above 10% are considered high interest credit cards and they need to be dealt with first. Look at what you owe on these cards and ask yourself if you can pay them off today completely. Just send in the check and cut the card into pieces and don't look back. If paying them off is not an option for you at the moment, look into transferring the balances to the lower interest cards you have. While this will not get rid of what you owe, it will immediately and significantly slow your descent in to credit card debt. Look at your cards and read the fine print on your agreements, many credit card companies reward you with balance transfers and can save you a lot of money. Be careful of cards that give you 0% interest for a set amount of time, they may sound good and certainly can be, but be aware of what interest rate they will revert to after the grace period ends. Don't miss a payment, ever. The penalties can be more than just a fine, and can result in retroactive interest rate changes.

Call your credit card companies

Remember one thing above all when dealing with credit cards: you are the customer. The credit card companies are only in business because you borrow their money. They need you more than you need them. Call your credit card companies and tell them you want a lower interest rate on your account today. Let them know you are receiving offers from other lenders and although you would like to keep your business together still, they need to meet what the lenders are offering you or you will take your business elsewhere. You will be surprised after some haggling how willing your creditors are to work with you to retain your business.