Save Money on Your Credit Cards

Many people have multiple debts such as credit card, hire purchase, car loan andhousing loan. If this is the case, you may be paying more interest than you need to. Credit cards are not a cost effective way of funding long term borrowing. Speak to your lender about consolidating your debts under one umbrella credit product like your housing loan. So, instead of paying a higher rate of interest on your credit card, you�ll pay at the home loan rate which is often much lower. Then you can put the savings directly into your home loan!

It seems that many businesses and stores these days are willing to fight hard for your patronage. I’ve noticed a lot more stores lately that now offer price matching on equal items from a different store. You simply show the ad or online printout showing the item that is less expensive at the rival store, and they will give you the item for that price (or sometimes even for cheaper). The fact is that in today’s day and age, your money is in demand and you can use this to your advantage andsave yourself even more cash. Here are a few of the biggest benefits to taking advantage of the price matching strategy.

There are a number of credit cards out there which offer fuel incentives and many experts have recommended them as money saving devices, confirming that they offer good rates in addition to attractive fuel incentives.

Gas credit cards can earn you rebates or cashback to help save money on your gas bill.  We’ve recently looked at ways to make more money during bad economic times but the other side of the accounting equation is obviously to spend less money. With high gas prices continuing to climb, saving money on gas is important to many of us and gas discount cards can help reduce the bill a little. There are many options to choose from; before you apply for a gas rewards card, be aware the features such as reward limits, introductory rates, and rewards earned can vary from card to card.

Balance-transfer Fees – Some issuers charge transaction fees as high as 4 percent for balance transfers so that the higher the balance, the higher the transaction fee. Other credit card companies cap transfer fees at $25-50. Still other cards only waive fees for “initial balance transfers,” then treat every subsequent balance transfer as a cash advance and charge the greater of $2.50 or 2.5% of the transaction amount as a fee.

If you can’t, transfer the balance to a form of credit with a lower annual interest rate, such as a line of credit. If you do this every month, you’ll always benefit from the grace period on your credit card. In your monthly budget, include the amount needed to pay off your outstanding balance as quickly as possible.

Your credit card statement indicates the date your account closes each month and reflects any activity on the account as of that date. The greater the balance on the closing date, the more interest is charged on your account. In the period between the closing date and the due date, any credits (payments) and debits (charges) to the account are calculated, and the closing balance is adjusted. Finance charges are added to the balance, along with any fees you may have incurred, such as ATM fees or cash advance fees.