Credit Card Management

I would like to consolidate my debt, which is the first step?

Get rid of your credit cards. That's JOB ONE. Pay cash for everything using your debit card.

No matter what, set aside a small amount every pay-day in a special savings account earmarked especially for emergencies.

NEVER spend more than you make...

2007-08-24 18:54:30 by magoohn

Ways to consolidate credit card debt include using balance transfers and contacting a credit union or bank for loans. Condense credit card debt ...

Just wondering if anyone has used a debt management service and knows if this is possible. I know they set them to automatically close when they are finished, but does anyone know if you can contact the credit card company and ask them to leave it open once it is paid off? The reason I ask is because I know it is better for your credit score to have accounts that are a few years old open, with available credit, rather than closing them when they are paid off.

i work for amex and honey once you go under these pograms they are fighting with us to lower youre apr so we say if we do this we will close youre accounts manually and automatic the management poeple dont close it its up to us and we will close them for you and it will ruin youre credit cause it will say "closed by grabntor" instead of closed by consumer please mark this top

2008-01-08 16:57:38 by Phantasia

Does anyone know of a website to manage credit cards? I use one right now, but it has many bugs and I would like to know if anyone else knows of one that is good. I am looking for one similuar to my current one that does the following:
keeps tract of all my credit cards, notifys me if payments are due, has a spending report, graphs my usage, and I can pay right through the website. any ideas?

I would use a combination of programs.

You can use financial management programs like Quicken or Microsoft Money for your account management. These have all of the graphs and reminders you need. Also the data resides on your local computer and you are not worrying about your vital credit card information in some site. Especially one as you say that has "bugs".

I then use the On-Line payment option of each credit card company. This is usually the fastest way to get it to them, and if something goes wrong it is their site and makes disputes a lot simpler.

For other bills such as the Utilities I use my bank's On-Line banking system. This also gives me the ability to transfer data from the On-Line site into my local Quicken program.

2007-06-12 18:58:05 by Lisa

In itself, simply getting an additional credit card that has a lower APR than your other credit card(s) does nothing, particularly if you have no plan to pay off existing debt and you start using that new credit card to accumulate new overall debt.

However, if you are able to transfer existing balance from cards that have higher rates to this new card that has a lower rate AND you stop accumulating new credit card debt (i.e. stop using all CC accounts!), then every time you make a payment on the new, lower interest credit card, more of that payment goes to the principal, reducing your overall debt more quickly.

However, be very careful when transferring balances or taking advantage of new credit card deals. "Low APR" cards often will charge an up front fee for balance transfers. Or the interest rate may be very low only for a short period of time, or it may only apply to the transfer balances (not new charges). Read all the fine print and understand the implications And never miss a payment or have a late payment. If you do, your rates will sky rocket. (In addition to any associated fees and penalties)

In short, a low APR credit card eases debt management when it is used to consolidate higher interest debts, cost little or no money to do so and no new debt is accumulated. If this is the case, you can pay the balance off more quickly than you would on higher interest rate cards.

2009-05-14 03:33:09 by melissa bailey

I notice many teenagers (18 and over) get their first credit card when they start their jobs. But I also see how they go crazy buying things, going over the limit and even not making payments in time which ruins their credit.

Is there a way to teach this youth how to avoid such chaos? Any books on the subject, tapes they can hear, etc....

My son will be turning 18 and can't wait for his first credit card and I wish to teach him as to the responsibility it entails. But children hardly listen to their parents, what material, if any, can I made available to him.

i know this isn't the kind of answer your looking for but im an 18 year old male and i just had to say this when i saw your question.

First you have to get to understand i was one of the worst people i knew with money. It was flowing our of my hands as fast as i got it. Paychecks where gone by the end of the weekend etc..

The best advice i can offer is urge them to take a Managing your Money course or some kind of finance course in school. This is what i did and now i have been saving almost 6 hundred dollars a month which isn't bad when your a full time college student. The classes teach about the dangers of credit cards and offer many other lessons like investing, stocks, savings, and financing in general.

Now if that is not an option and im sure its not for most people i know there are a lot of resources on the net. i just googled some search terms and you would be amazed at the amount of results.

Now to close i want you too see one website in particular that deals with mortgages but credit card loans are basically the same with lower amounts of money.
http://www.mortgage-calc.com/mortgage/lo an.php

Here is a Example

If your Son charges

Charged $10,000
Paying 60$ a month
Interest 2% i find this quite low personally i could be wrong.

It will take him

Time 196 months ( 16.333 years )
Total Interest$ 1,724.98

Total 11,724.98


This is just an example i through i through together.

Show him a figure like that it was enough to scare me to not charge on my credit card.

2009-10-04 19:18:23 by Wisen Smart