Everyone is looking for ways to pay less money on their credit cards. Making mistakes with credit cards is all too easy and it is all too common. Perhaps you chose a credit card because of an attractive offer that came along with opening a new account and then paid for it later. Or perhaps you wanted to rack up travel points for a trip that you wished to take. Regardless of what happened you want to find as many ways as possible to reduce the fees that you pay.
One mistake that is common to so many people is that they choose a credit card that is not right for their needs. If you want to apply for a credit card or you wish to transfer your balance to a new card then you need to know what is available on the credit card market and then you need to determine what your needs are.
After you select the credit card that is most appropriate for your needs then your next concern is to find ways to lower the fees that you pay on the plastic you use. There are many ways that you can lower your credit card fees that you may not have thought of but here we give you seven ways to ensure that you do not have to pay the highest fees around!
Reducing Credit Card Fees
1. Pay your balance in full every month. If you have a balance, whether it is $20, $200 or $2,000 you need to pay it in full in order to guarantee that you will not be charged a cent in interest. Do not charge more on your credit cards then you can afford to pay back within a month’s time.
2. Know what the interest rate is on your credit card(s). A survey conducted in 2007 revealed that 28 percent of Americans have absolutely no idea what interest rate they are paying. You need to know this information.
3. If paying your balance off in full is not something that you are capable of at this point in time then you should think about switching to a credit card that has a lower interest rate. Many of the low interest cards have no bells and whistles and charge interest rates of 10 to 12 percent (or less). You can place a telephone call to your financial institution and tell them what you are looking for. Many of the low interest credit cards also come with no annual fees. This can save you a lot of money in interest over the long-term.
4. If you have retail credit cards then get rid of them as fast as you can. Many of the retail cards charge as much as 30 percent interest. You are much better off with a bank card such as Visa or MasterCard. The rates on bank cards are lower than their retail counterparts.
5. Avoid making credit advances on your credit card. There is no grace period when you make a cash advance. Instead you are being charged interest from the moment you withdraw the cash from your card. As well some credit cards charge their customers a higher interest rate for making cash advances.
6. If there is an annual fee on your credit card then negotiate with the company to have it reduced or waived all together. If you have been with the same company for many years and you have a good credit rating then they may be more than willing to oblige your request.
7. If you have a number of credit cards and you find yourself not paying off your balances in full every month then to minimize this damage to your credit you should get rid of all but one of your credit cards. You do not really need an abundance of cards anyway.
