Give Yourself A Credit Card Check-Up

Introduction

Have you ever been to the doctor and they tell you that if you would have kept up on your regular check-up, you might not have gotten sick. That is kind of how it is with Credit cards. Taking care of your credit cards by reading your monthly statement, lowering your Interest Rate, and paying more than the minimum balance are ways to reduce costs while paying a Mortgage or saving to purchase a new home. If you don’t keep track of your Credit History, then you could be in a world of trouble. You will need to give yourself a Credit Card check-up.

Read Your Monthly Statements

The first thing to do is to make sure that you are reading your monthly statements. Make sure that you are being charged correctly for your purchases and that the interest rates haven’t changed from what you initially agreed upon. There is a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo in credit card statements. If you don't understand the language, credit card offers and statements could lead you to deep debt or at least furious frustration. See our Glossary page for more help with credit card terms.

Ask For A Lower Rate

Next, a major cost reducer is asking for a lower rate. There is no incentive for your credit card company to lower your rate unless you call. Why are card issuers so willing to cut interest rates for so many of their customers? For one thing, competition in the credit card industry is fierce. If you’re a good customer, a card company is going to want to hang on to you.

Even if you dread confrontations, you only need to be assertive for a matter of seconds. You can follow the sample script below:

Hi, my name is [Your Name]. I am a good customer, but I have received several offers in the mail from other credit card companies with lower APRs. I want a lower rate on my card, or I will cancel my card and switch companies.

And that's it. Remember that you must be a good customer to get a lower rate and save money.

Make The Payments

Last, but not least, make sure that you are paying more than the minimum balance on your credit cards. You will never pay them off if you are paying the minimum balance or less than the minimum balance. First, you will need to call your credit card company to let them know that you are having financial difficulty due to unemployment or a divorce, etc. You may qualify for a hardship program of some type to help you pay off your balances. By admitting your financial difficulties, your Creditor may view you as an increased risk and raise your Interest Rate. Although it seems the opposite of what should happen, it is within your creditors' rights to do so. Weigh this option carefully.

Financial Difficulty

You may want to sit down with a reputable credit counselor and discuss your options for solving your immediate problem of making minimum payments and to eventually pay down your debt. They will help you determine the reasons that you are in your current financial situation and help you develop an action plan to avoid the same situation in the future. Be sure to ask the counseling agency if they will give you an action plan. If they do not, then call another one; this really is important and often separates the legitimate agencies from the pretenders. Credit counseling agencies can help reduce your costs by consolidating your bills or helping you find a company who can help you consolidate your bills. Contact one of our affiliates now by accessing our Debt Consolidation Loan page.

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