Minimizing Your Credit Card Interest Payments
Sometimes you don't realize how much interest you are paying on your credit cards until you look at your end of the year statement or begin to follow your statements closely and see that your balance is not decreasing much. One of the most common causes of escalating interest payments is that of only making minimum payments, especially if you have a high credit line and frequently use your card. It may not seem like much of a problem until you want to use the card and discover you don't have very much available credit to make purchases or take cash advances.
One of the easiest ways to minimize interest payments on your credit cards is to pay them off during your grace period, but that is not always practical, especially if you have a high credit line and use your card to make larger purchases such as furniture and airline tickets. If you frequently make these types of purchases, you must get into the habit of making substantial payments on your credit cards each month. Making only the minimum payments will not only add to the amount of interest you pay, you will soon find that you have no credit to make additional purchases.
Another way you can minimize interest on your credit cards is to choose the cards with the lowest interest rates and look for those that offer low or no interest for a trial period. Prior to the expiration of the introductory interest rate you secure another card with a low introductory rate that includes balance transfers. With so many different offers today it makes little sense to remain loyal to a credit card issuer. A few decades ago customers tended to be true to their credit card issuer, but there is too much competition today and credit card issuers are less likely to give their customers a special price just to maintain their business.
Even if you are unable to pay your credit card balance in full each month, making larger payments and paying on time will minimize the interest you pay. This is especially important today since many credit cards have a special interest rate that is only effective if you pay your bill on time every month and don't go over your credit limit. If you do either of those things your interest rate may increase as much as twenty per cent, and depending on the credit card issuer, it may remain at that rate for a substantial amount of time. Make sure you know the regulations concerning the interest rate on your credit card so that you can avoid any pitfalls.
Michael writes for Card Sense, where you can compare credit cards from all the major issuers, including low rate cards, ones with introductory 0% on purchases deals, and balance transfer offers. Visit today to get a geat deal on your next credit card.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: April 28, 2008
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