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June 29, 2007
Credit Cards vs. Charge Cards
What is the difference between a charge card and a credit card?
Many consumers often confuse the terms credit and charge card and think they are the same thing.
They are not the same.
Let's explain the difference between the two cards.
Charge Cards:
A charge card is a card such as the American Express Preferred Rewards Green Card which allows you to charge items to your card and pay later. There is NO revolving debt associated with a charge card.
What is revolving debt?
Revolving debt means that you do not have to pay your entire balance in full every month. You pay a portion of the amount owing plus interest
When I say that a charge card has no revolving debt it means that you MUST pay the entire amount owing each and every billing cycle.
Credit Cards
Credit cards allow for revolving debt and charge you interest.
When you strip away everything, a credit card is really a loan with a high interest rate.
There is more involved with credit cards which I describe throughout Crediteria.com, however I thought I should distinguish the difference between credit and charge cards.
Posted by Colin at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 28, 2007
Skyrocket Your Credit and Prosper
To skyrocket the cash in your pocket you must start on the road to restoring your credit score to save on the fees and incredibly high interest charges that go along side of poor credit.
On a daily basis I see several sad stories of folks that got in a little over their heads with bills, loans and credit cards. Rebuilding credit may seem to be impossible, but it is actually quite easy.
The key to establishing good credit is to learn how to manage your lines of credit and make sure you pay your bills in a timely fashion.
The best way to learn how effectively manage your credit is to start off with a small line of credit. This is why I love the Imagine Credit Card, this is a MasterCard that you can get a very small line of credit that will ensure you can not get into serious financial trouble with. The annual fees are low, saving you the high cost of having bad credit.
Remember that the cost of credit is incredibly high to those with poor credit. Use a credit card with a very low limit to restore your credit such as the Imagine Gold MasterCard and you will soon enjoy the incredible cost savings of having good credit.
June 25, 2007
Business Travel and Expense Sheets
Fellow business owners and entrepreneurs please allow me to give you some of the best advice that will save you time and money.
When you travel on business and rack up tons of charges on your credit card, update your expense sheets immediately.
Update your expenses while on the road, this will ensure your records are 100% accurate. It will only take a minute of your day and the cash savings come at tax time because you have been diligent enough to perform the "Millionaire Minute".
Yeah, I just returned home from 5 days on the road from Carl Galletti's Internet Marketing Superconference in Las Vegas where I gave a presentation.
Now I am home and don't have to figure out what all the receipts were for. I did my credit card expenses at the conference!
Do the same in your business and live with more peace and more money.
Posted by Colin at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 19, 2007
Credit and the College Graduate
Have you just graduated from college and just landed your first real world job?
Now you are looking for a credit card but you aren't sure how to establish a good credit rating. Don't worry, you might already have an established credit rating because of a bill that was in your name. Possibly a phone bill, a cell phone, or other utility bill will usually report to the credit bureaus.
The first thing you should do is order your credit report and check your credit score.
FICO scores range from 300 to 850. A FICO score of 680 is considered good.
Once you know your credit score you can apply for the right credit card.
If your credit score shows above 680 then consider applying for cards with added perks such as points towards merchandise, gas or travel.
If your credit score is lower than 680 or you don't have a credit history then you should consider applying for a credit card with the lowest credit limit and lowest fees.
Out of all the credit cards I have reviewed I strongly recommend the Imagine card because it offers the best deal for establishing credit.
If you get the lowest credit limit, which at this time is $75, the fee is only $15. That's the cheapest way I have seen to establish or re-establish good credit.
Of course, you will have to make sure you are paying all your bills on time as well in order to boost your credit score.
Posted by Colin at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Low Interest Balance Transfer Credit Cards Caution
Most credit card companies offer a very enticing zero APR on balance transfers to get your business. Crediteria.com has listed some of the best deals on low interest balance transfer credit cards for your convenience however you must beware of the terms and conditions.
Transfering your balance to a low rate card is a very wise move. You can save tons of money on interest charges.
But do take note that the typical period you will receive the interest free period is for six to twelve months and after that rates will typically vary between 12.9% to 18.9%.
If you are serious about paying down some credit card debt then these cards are perfect however if you are late on just one payment the higher rate will instantly apply. Make sure you pay your bills on time and this will not be an issue.
A balance transfer to a low rate card is a very smart financial decision so start saving your money today and check out the best 0 introductory interest rate cards on the market right now. With each passing day you are losing money!
Posted by Colin at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 18, 2007
Got Bad Credit - Wanna Credit Card?
When you have bad credit there are several sharks out there that are preying on the emotions related to your situation.
There are lenders out there that know it is an emotional and confusing time for people when they have bad credit. They know you are willing to do anything to restore your credit so they put together a marketing plan to hammer away at your emotions. They know your triggers. They know what will suck a few bucks out of your already hurting wallet.
I am frequently asked this:
"What's the best credit card for people with bad credit?"
My answer is The Imagine Gold MasterCard Credit Card. Why do I like the Imagine credit card?
The answer is simple:
1. The Imagine card offers a low line of credit which will help you avoid sinking too much further into debt
2. The annual fee is lower than most credit cards that are designed for people in your situation.
3. Imagine reports to the credit bureaus. When you pay your credit card regularly this will be reported to the bureaus. Remember it's imperative to pay your bills and pay them on time to re-establish (or establish) good credit
There you have it. You are in control of restoring your credit so consider applying for the Imagine credit card, read my review of the card here
June 16, 2007
Gas Stations Credit Cards and Identity Theft
I just read a very interesting news story about some gas stations limiting pay at the pump credit card transactions due to the growing problems of identity theft.
Shawn Bloomfield of Allentown PA said that he has to use 2 different credit cards to fuel his truck because the pumps stop delivering fuel to curb the use of stolen cards.
Yeah, that's going to solve the problem. It's only going to grow the problem of identity theft in my opinion. Thieves that can swipe one identity can steal multiple identities. If Shawn can use two credit cards to fuel his vehicle then can't an identity thief use two stolen cards to fuel vehicles.
While identity theft is a huge problem in today's society my hope is the President's Task Force on Identity theft helps curb the problem.
In the meantime I do suggest you consider reading my review of LifeLock Identity Protection service.
For less than $10 per month you can have some peace of mind.
Posted by Colin at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 15, 2007
Business Credit and Money Tips
Having tax season behind me now, it's time to take stock of business spending and expense tracking. I mentioned a few posts ago about using business credit cards to earn rewards on your business spending to reward yourself personally.
Earning rewards on business card spending is one thing but it is very important to track your spending as you go. Tracking your business expenses is what is going to truly leverage your spending via tax breaks. If you neglect to make a habit of entering your small business expenses at the end of each day you might miss some tax breaks.
I have a spreadsheet that you can use to track business credit card and cash spending that you can download.
Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen talked about this in the book "The One Minute Millionaire". They refer to the millionaire minute which means spend one minute a day to log your expense to leverage tax breaks, which of course keeps more money in your pocket.
June 12, 2007
Bad Credit and James Story
It is my personal mission to help folks with their finances, in fact that is exactly why Crediteria exists. The goal of this site is to help average people and small business owners avoid the pain of debt.
Debt leads to:
1. Bad credit
2. The erosion of personal relationships
3. Misery beyond belief
The above points were what I extrapolated from my conversation with James. He was in ruin because of some poor choice he made early on in his life.
A few bad decisions made James self-aware of where he went wrong. He realized his bad credit decisions and now wants to rebuild his financial life.
When James contacted me, I offered him the same advice I provide to everybody. My advice is this simple:
Credit repair begins with proving to lenders that you are credit worthy.
How do you prove this?
Easy! Get another line of credit and pay it according to the terms and conditions.
The best credit card for re-establishing credit is the Imagine Credit Card mainly because of the low fees and low limits provided by the card.
Having a low limit will keep you from further financial ruin if your spending habits aren't that good yet and it will rebuild your credit when you pay your bills on time.
Remember that in order to rebuild your credit with a credit card (or any other loan) you must pay your bills on time! Failure to pay your bills on time will result in your credit score taking a serious nose dive!
Again, I really like the Imagine credit card because it provides you with a second chance to restore your credit without getting you too far into debt all the while not gouging you on fees.
June 11, 2007
Bad Credit is Costing You Big Time
Having bad credit is costing you much more than you need to be spending. Restoring your credit rating is crucial for your financial well-being.
It's a slippery slope, the worse your credit, the more you pay for credit cards, utility bills and every other monthly expense you can think of.
Why is this the case?
Because you have bad credit, you pose a risk to the lender or service provider therefore to mitigate the risk the cost of people defaulting on loans, credit card and bill payments is spread out across everyone in the same situation. The lenders and service providers will not be paid by many people with bad credit. In order to cover the risk you are paying a heafty sum.
When you have bad credit, you will pay higher interest rates, service fees, annual fees and several other fees.
These fees chew up a lot of your cash flow and it is important that you start taking steps today to repair your credit.
The best way to show banks, service providers and credit card companies that you are not a risk and will pay them is to get your credit in good standing.
How can you restore your credit rating?
Start with a credit card with a very low line of credit so that you will not get yourself in a financial mess. Consider applying for a credit card such as the Imagine credit card from the first bank of Delaware. The Imagine Gold Card is the perfect card to dig yourself out of bad credit status and get onto a life of saving money in fees with good credit.
The Imagine credit card offers some low credit lines that report to the bureaus with very low annual fees which will save you some money while you restore your credit rating.
I like the Imagine Gold credit card for restoring your credit because of the low credit limit which will prevent you from screwing yourself by racking up even more debt without the ability to pay the balance.
What I recommend is that people with bad credit get the $75 credit limit option because 75 bucks is not going to ruin you for a lifetime if you run the card to the limit and with the 75 dollar credit limit option you only pay an annual fee of about 15 bucks. That's as cheap as you will find for an annual fee on a credit card for people with bad credit.
Use the Imagine card to restore your credit and use it to re-establish some good spending habits and then enjoy the cost savings of those with better credit.
Good credit will save you a fortune so start reparing your credit today.
If you are serious about repairing your credit then apply to for the Imagine Gold MasterCard. Your credit bureau report will thank you for it.
Posted by Colin at 01:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 09, 2007
Simplistic Explanation of Credit Card Rates
Credit card debt is soaring out of control for many Americans. It amazes me to see just how much consumers are spending each year with their credit card, it’s in the trillions of dollars!
It is predominately young families and people in their late teens and early twenties that venture on a course of the burdens of credit card debt because they do not fully understand the fees and interest rates associated with the ticking time bombs in their wallets, otherwise known as credit cards.
The Federal Reserve is at work to help the average consumer avoid the despair cause by debt by looking at ways to improve credit card company disclosures, billing and what are quite often confusing interest rates. You can read the press release here from the Federal Reserve to see what actions they are taking.
While I think it’s a very good thing that the Federal Reserve is working to make it easier for consumers to understand what they are signing on for when they apply for a credit card, ultimately your finances should really be your own responsibility.
You must educate yourself about what the lingo used in the various aspects of personal finance means.
When talking about credit cards there are several charges and fees that the card issuers make money from you.
How much are you really going to be paying in interest? To better understand credit card interest rates I am going to explain the most common areas of confusion consumers have when they are trying to compare rates.
Let’s take a look at how the banks make money from your use of credit cards. It gets confusing trying to figure out what all the different interest rates mean and what the different charges are for.
Bank Fees and Interest Rates Explained in Simple Terms
1. Annual fees
Most credit card companies charge an annual fee. This is a flat rate that you pay each and every year to be a cardholder whether you use the card or not. Make sure you read the terms and conditions when you are applying for a credit card and look for the annual fee.
Tip: When you apply ask the bank to waive the annual fee, quite often they will.
Why is there an annual fee?
First of all it mitigates the risk of people defaulting on payments. Secondly it’s a cash grab pure and simple. The credit card company wants to make a fast buck from you.
An annual fee really comes down to this: You are paying the bank to be a customer.
2. Purchase interest rate
Typically there is an interest rate assigned for purchases of merchandise from stores. This rate applies to goods and services you purchase on the credit card.
3. Balance transfer rate
You might see a balance transfer rate on the terms and conditions of the card you are applying for. This is a rate that is set to entice you to leave your current credit card company to attract you as a new customer.
Note: The balance transfer rate will only apply to the balance you transfer from your old card to the new company. Any new purchases you make with the card will accrue interest.
Why do banks offer 0 APR balance transfer offers?
Simple, they figure that since you carry a balance you are likely to increase your spending with their card and they are going to make money from interest accrued by your credit card use.
Tip: Use balance transfer rates to get out of credit card debt. Take advantage of the several zero interest introductory APR’s to get out of debt.
How?
Transfer your balance to the 0 APR card and do not use your credit card! Discipline my friends!
4. Cash advance interest rate
The rates on cash advances from ATM’s are typically double that of purchases. When you take money out of the ATM as cash it’s going to cost you a lot more than you could ever imagine!
Tip: Never withdraw cash on your credit card from an ATM! Ever!
5. Variable rate
A variable rate will usually read, Prime plus a percentage. While you will see some seemingly low rates on variable rate credit cards, the number you see is not the interest rate you will pay.
The variable rate might read 7.99%
You think you are getting a great deal!
No! That’s not the rate you will pay. The variable rate of prime + 7.99 will be more than the 7.99!
The prime rate is a base interest rate set by the banks so if prime is 4% for example, the real interest rate you will pay is 11.99%
6. Fixed rate
A fixed interest rate is just that, it’s a pre-determined interest rate which never changes on your card unless the issuer notifies you in accordance to applicable credit laws.
Tip: When the bank sends you information in the mail, read it all! It could be them announcing a rate hike!
That’s about as simple as I can state the various rates charged by credit card companies, when you have a basic understanding of how the various fees and rates work, you are armed with knowledge and I hope that knowledge will help you avoid credit card debt.
Educate yourself on the basics of how credit cards work and you will be able to avoid credit card debt or begin to shed yourself of the burdens of debt.
June 07, 2007
What Credit Card is Best for Your Business?
I am currently reviewing every detail of literally hundreds of credit cards for business and thought I would share my reasoning as to why I recommend the Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express as being the best card.
In my business, I pay my credit card in full every month, so the Amex Gold business card is perfect for me. That's a requirement of the card is payment in full. Since I do pay my balance in full, I get that benefit of rewards which I use to reward my precious family for their patience with me while I do what it takes as a small business owner to keep the earnings coming in.
I realize not everybody pays their balance in full every month. So far I have 18 card reviews posted to help you find the right business credit card for your situation.
If you don't pay your balance in full every month I am really liking some of the offers from Advanta.
In particular, the Advanta Platinum Business Card , because of the interest free balance transfer for 15 months and a very low ongoing rate.
The Advanta Platinum Business credit card also features some very attractive rewards on gas, computers, electronics, phone plans and there's rewards on advertising services of 5%.
That's like giving your family a 5% salary increase on your personal income!
Remember this, never use your business rewards on business purchases, those should be used for personal benefit!
June 05, 2007
Business Credit Card Reviews Coming
I know, it's been a few days since I posted any reviews or info about credit cards.
Been a very busy entrepreneur here, I see opportunity and I jump at it. You see, not too long ago I had a magazine feature a full 3 page article about me and my online endevours.
Because of that I have been working far too hard at producing a training program to teach folks (and businesses) about solid techniques to establish their online marketing message.
The coaching program is called "The Fly on the Wall Club" ( http://www.flyonthewallclub.com ) and as a result I have felt a compelling need to review in much more depth all the business credit cards available, in particular cards for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
I take all my businesses very seriously, including Crediteria.com, and I do a lot of the day to day management to ensure absolute excellence in service to my readers.
I don't let my employees have free run at my online endevors because the online world is a very fluid place and must make sure my message is not compromised. . .
Having said that, I have personally selected a handful of credit cards for business owners and those personally selected credit cards are in the hands of my research team to investigate futher.
Once they have conducted research regarding the best rewards, interest rate and several other rating criteria I will be personally reviewing the offers and posting only the best business card deals on Crediteria.
Please check the Business finance section of the site frequently to view the best business credit cards on the market today.
I will have these card listed, including online applications, on the left side menu for you to choose which credit cards fits your business needs.
Wishing you the best in your business endevors!
Posted by Colin at 03:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)