We have helpful finance management advice on debt, loans and credit cards

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A good credit history is an important part of survival in today’s world. Your credit history can affect getting an apartment, a home loan, car loan, insurance, and even a job. Yes they do look at your credit history whenever you apply for any of the above. It’s about responsibility and trust.

But wait a minute. Life isn’t always smooth sailing. Often times there are bumps in the road and these bumps can effect your credit. Illness and unemployment don’t always wait for the right moment to happen in our lives. They can often take a huge toll on families, not only emotionally but financially as well.

Just like it is important to have good credit, it’s almost impossible today to get by without some sort of credit card. The financial institutions realize this and that’s why they offer credit cards for people with bad credit. There are secured and unsecured credit card offers available.

Some people may want the unsecured credit card. They should be aware, however, that if they’re not one to pay off the balance in full each month, there’s a hefty interest rate on those cards. The financial institution is taking a risk because of your poor credit history, no matter what the reason.

An alternate solution is to get a prepaid credit card. This is where you deposit the funds before you use the card, which is why they call this a secured credit card. It works just like a credit card and can be used the same way as a regular card, anywhere they accept that type of credit card. Your funds are also available at any ATM.

Prepaid credit cards aren’t just for people with bad credit, however. Some people don’t want to pay later as with regular credit cards. They want to pay as they go. That’s where the prepaid credit card comes in for the regular consumer.

The advantage of a prepaid credit card is you don’t need to carry a lot of cash. You can also use the card online just like any other credit card. Last but not least, you can control your spending as you are limited to the amount on deposit.

Prepaid credit cards are advantageous in more ways than one. They look like a regular credit card. They are accepted just like a regular credit card. But the difference is, youre in control of your own finances.

Every year you plan to avoid the credit card fiasco, and even make a wholehearted attempt to purchase all of your holiday gifts with cash. If youre reading this article, chances are you ended up using your credit cards more than intended! Dont despair though; there are some tried and true methods of fixing your holiday credit card slump that you can put into action right away. Here are some strategies to climb out from underneath the holiday credit card slump- and help you pay off those purchases quickly so you arent still paying for them by the time the holiday season rolls around again next year.

Use Introductory Offers to Your Advantage

After the holidays many credit card companies release special introductory rates to entice new customers to apply for their cards. If you can find one that offers 0% interest on balance transfers for a year, youre in! You can transfer your holiday debt from the various cards that you used, and pay it off without hefty interest rates. Another benefit of this technique is the fact that youll have a single payment even if you had used several credit cards for holiday shopping. Once you combine all of them on the new 0% balance transfer credit card, youve got a single, monthly payment! (You might consider closing some of your other credit cards).

If you are unable to find a 0% interest rate on balance transfers for twelve months, you might be able to find a six month introductory offer. This is still worth the time and effort to transfer your balances as you can work to pay them off before the six months is up (or at the end of the six months move the balance to a new card with a 0% balance transfer offer!)

Credit Card Checks

If you dont qualify for a 0% interest introductory balance transfer offer, you could consider using the checks that often come with your credit cards. (Sometimes you have to request them from your credit card company). While the interest rate might not be zero, and it may not be any lower than the card that offers the credit card checks to you- if you have balances on several credit cards, writing a check to pay off each card means you would only have a single monthly payment. In the long run, you would save immensely on interest and finance charges by having a single account. In addition, paying on a single account instead of three or four (or more!) will help you pay off the outstanding balance much faster.

Request Lower Rates

In some cases, credit card companies are able to lower your interest rate just because youve asked them to! It certainly doesnt hurt anything to pick up the phone and call your credit card companys customer service line to request a lower interest rate. When youve gone overboard with your holiday spending, you can really save on the total amount you end up repaying just by having a lower interest rate.

Get A New Card

Ideally, you will want a card that will allow you to move all of your other credit card balances onto, and at a 0% balance transfer rate. There are times when you cant get approved for the best offers, or times when you just have more outstanding debt than the offer allows you to transfer.

If this happens to you, you might consider getting a new credit card that will allow you to transfer your entire debt from all of your other cards, and one that has a reasonable interest rate on the transferred balances, so that you can start making a single monthly payment rather than several.