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Insights on money, career and trading

How To Keep Your Credit Cards And Loans From Breaking You

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Daniel at 3:56 pm

It’s hard to get through life without any money, and sometimes you need more than you have on hand. Maybe you borrow money to buy your own home, in order to stop wasting tons of money on rent. Maybe your car breaks down and needs some major repairs, or you need to replace it all together. That could mean needing a loan, or at least putting repairs on a credit card.

If you’re using loans and credit cards for rational things, like home ownership or helping yourself out in an emergency, then you may be able to skate by without ending up with bad credit. However, those that use these things to buy groceries and toys on a day-to-day basis may find the costs is more than they bargained for.

Get To Know Your Credit Card

Before you even got you first credit card, you should have taken some time to learn about them. Credit cards are often mistaken as free cash, and people forget the importance of keeping them paid off. Those interest rates, no matter how small they are, can add up if you aren’t paying more than just your minimum balance and keeping your total owed down.

Talk To Your Bank Lender

If you have loans through your bank they could be adding up as well. You should also be paying more on them than just your minimum payment due. Talk to your bankers about how much you should pay a month to help keep your interest rates under control.

If you have a mortgage or want to get one you may also want to speak to a professional about this. You want to make sure you are borrowing the right way.

Negotiate Better Interest Rates

If you got your credit card(s) when your credit wasn’t in great standing, or when you had no credit at all, you may be paying a fairly high interest rate. You can do something about that once your credit has gotten better and more under control. Contact the bank(s) and credit card companies and talk to them about getting a lower rate.

If you have been keeping your card paid off, or at least making the minimum payments on time and on a regular basis you will likely get the reduction you want.

Watch Your Credit Score And Reports

If you haven’t always been on top of your bills and minimum payments, and you might even have some credit card bills out there that never got paid off and ended up with a creditor, you need to be looking into your credit score and credit reports. A bad score can keep you from owning a home or getting your dream job. Get it taken care of and you can be back on track in no time.

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Insights on money, career and trading