Invest your money

By Ian Sani

In recent years, the cost of living has increased significantly. People are in need of money every now and then. They are trying to raise money from various sources to meet their daily demands. These days you will find many people are opting for loans from companies, banks and other financial institutions. However, majority of the people who have taken the loan find it difficult to repay the loan amount within the specified loan period and this is the reason why people fall into trap of debts.

Debts can cause much damage to an individual and thus it is very important for a person to consider debt management, as this is the only way to debt relief. You will find lot of valuable information on various online guidance services, which specializes in debt relief programs. These services suggest a systematic procedure for you.

You should try to eliminate the debt as soon as possible and then should try to focus on building your future. Make realistic spending plans and this will surely allow you to achieve your goals.

Planning is very important in case of debt relief. You should plan your expenditure in a way that you should be able to secure your present and your future. You should try to balance your life at both the ends.

Dumping your credit cards becomes necessary if you want to get rid of debts. Credit cards enhances your spending capacity and thus, you spend more than your earn. Credit cards no doubt have advantages but it is also true that these encourage people to spend.  If you are not having a credit card then you will only spend up to a certain level and will never overshoot your budget.

At last, develop a habit of saving money wherever you can and learn to prioritize your expenditure.

Why do people use plastic money or credit cards as they are called? Because most items can be purchased by using credit cards.

Credit cards can be classified as standard, secured, business, entertainment and so on. There is a long list of credit cards available in the market. You should http://www.compare2save.com.au/ which have flooded the market before you apply it. There are a couple of variable you need to watch: balance transfer rate, annual fee, and most important interest rate. Here are the best credit card that I found using http://www.compare2save.com.au/credit-cards/.

The St.George Vertigo Card has a balance transfer rate of 2.99% with an annual fee of $55 and an interest free period of 55 days. It has interest rate of 10.99% per annum.

The Aussie Mastercard has a balance rate of 4.99% with a year of balance transfer period. The annual fee is 49$ and with 55 days of interest free period. You will enjoy 11.49% of interest per annum with this plastic money.

Another feather in the cap is the ANZ Low Rate Mastercard. The privileges that you would enjoy with this card is 0% balance transfer rate, 6 months balance transfer period and an annual fee of a meager $58 and 55 days of interest free days. The rate of interest is 11.74% per annum.

CBA Low Rate Card also qualifies the criteria for ‘best credit cards’. The balance rate of 4.99% with a balance rate of 9 months and an annual fee of $48 with 11.74% rate of interest per annum. You will enjoy 55 days of interest free period.

Are you happy with your personal finance? Does your expense exceed your income? To measure how healthy your personal finance is, you just need to calculate the difference between how much money your receive and how much money you must spend in a month. If you have surplus, then you are good. As you can see there are two component to calculate: income and expense.

You can increase your income by doing something part time. Online business is very popular now and can help you increase your income. One thing that you should have for your income is passive income. This is an income which goes to you without you working. You can get this kind of income from interest of your saving account and stock dividend. Other might invest in forex trading using automated forex robot. But remember forex is very dangerous. You can earn a lot of money and loss a lot of money too.

The second thing you should watch is your expense. Besides your regular expense like food, there are other expense that can make you suffer which is interest from loans and credit card. Remember that your loans and credit card will affect your credit score. With FICO credit score you will know how healthy is your credit. If you want to learn more about personal loan, then you can visit personal-finance.com.au for more info. They have great resource on personal loan.

Because of the way credit scores are calculated, you can take actions to fix your credit score. Here are top ways to boost your credit score:

1. Pay your bills on time. This is simple but will work very well. Lenders will seriously look into your payment history. They want to see bills are paid in full and on time, because they want their money to be paid in full and on time too.
2. Avoid excessive credit. If you have many lines of credit or huge debts, you make a worse credit risk because this will make you harder to pay your loans.
3. If you have a lot of debt, pay down your debts. Start with the largest debt you have and start paying it down so that you are using a less large percentage of your credit total. In general, try to make sure that you use no more than 50% of your credit. If you can pay off your credit card in full each month, that is even better.
4. Have a range of credit types shows that you are able to handle a range of credit types well.
5. Keep Your Credit Score Safe. Sometimes, other people’s criminal activity can affect your credit score. You should look out for identity theft. These people can use the information to use your credit cards, you can be stuck with large debts and the poor credit score. To prevent identity theft, always check your account statements carefully each month. Report any suspicious activity or any charges you don’t recognize at once. If you have been the victim of identity theft, report to the police at once and get a police statement. Send copies of this to your bank and credit bureaus. Close all your accounts and reopen new ones. You can try this Theft Prevention Solution to help you with identity theft.
6. Keep account numbers and PIN numbers safe. Cover your account and PIN numbers when using debit at the store and refuse to give your PIN number to anyone.
7. Only buy things from places that you trust. The seller might steal your information when you are using your card. Never buy anything online from a company you do not have encryption technology. The company should have ‘https’ in their url in the pay page.
8. Install good firewall and antivirus system and update it for your computer. Virus or software or application can steal your information and send them through the internet to the virus maker.
9. Be cautious if you get an email from your bank asking you to verify your information by clicking on a link. This is a popular scam called phising. When you click the link it will bring you to the criminals page, where you you will gave information.
10. Check your credit score regularly so when you find problems you can fix it right away. Check your credit score at least once a year and preferably three times a year.
11. Close credit that you don’t use. Having credit lines and credit cards you don’t need makes you seem like a worse credit risk because you run the risk of “overextending” your credit. You can also forget about an old account and stop making payments on it. Fewer accounts will make it easier to track your debts. However, you must realize that when you close an account, the record of the closed account remains on your credit report and can affect your credit score for a while.
12. Minimize your online loan rate comparisons. Credit bureaus counts comparisons as an “inquiry.” This means that if you compare too many companies online by asking for quotes, your credit score will fall due to too many inquiries. You should should research companies and narrow down possible lenders to just a few before making inquiries.
13. If you want to close your credit account, close the most recent accounts first. Most credit bureaus give high favorable points to those who have a good long-term credit history. If you are closing credit card account that you had since since college your credit will drop.
14. If you want to close your credit account, close the account that have the lowest limit. If you close the highest limit, you will make your overall debt balance too high. This will gives you a bad credit rating.
15. Don’t do anything illegal like lying about your credit score. Your credit score is easy to check and you may actually find yourself facing legal action as a result of your dishonesty.
16. If there are mistates in your credit report, contact each of the three major credit bureaus - TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian - and get copies of your credit reports and credit scores. In writing, contact the credit bureaus and ask that mistakes be removed or investigated. This is called a dispute letter and credit bureaus have to investigate your dispute within thirty days of receiving your letter. It is important to keep a copy of your letter and note the date the letter was sent.
17. If you have trouble getting your payments in on time, consider online or telephone banking. This can help you pay your bills in minutes and can be a real life-saver. You can also have your bills taken out of your checking account each month or even charged to your credit card to make it easier.

Credit Card is a card that allows a person to make purchases up to the limit set by the card issuer. One must then pay off the balance in installments with interest payments.The longer card holder wait to pay off his or her entire amount, the more interest pile up. Credit card is very convenient compared to carrying cash or checks every time you need to purchase something.

It is also important to be familiar with the different types of credit cards.There are two interest rate options for credit card —the fixed and variable. Fixed-rate carry higher interest rates. Credit card grantors issue three types of accounts with basic account agreements:

• “revolving agreement” a.k.a. Typical Credit Card Account which allows the payer to pay in full monthly or prefer to have partial payments based on outstanding balance.
• Charge Agreement, requires the payer to pay the full balance monthly so they won’t have to pay the interest charges.
• The Installment Agreement, on the other hand, asks the payer to sign a contract to repay a fixed amount of credit in equal payments in definite period of time.

Types of credit cards

The most popular credit cards include Chase Manhattan Bank, Citibank, Bank of America, BankOne, American Express, Discover® Card, First Premier Bank, Advanta, HSBC Bank, and MasterCard Credit Cards. There are three main types of credit cards that are common in America. They are travel and entertainment cards such as American Express or Diners Card. These have to be paid in full at the end of the month and are liberal on spending limits. The second major cards are the bank cards such as Master Cards, Visa, GM, and Ford cards sponsored mainly by the banks. The bank defines spending limits, and each offers different terms and conditions. Banks offer a choice of payment methods, either pay the balance in full with no interest or pay a mnimum part or some part of the balance with a finance charge. The other major type of card is the retail store cards such as Sears, J.C. Penney, Shell or Mobil.

Applying credit card

If you decided to apply for a credit card, there are a couple of things you should do:

• Surf the net and do some research on credit cards. By doing this, you can familiarize yourself with different credit card terms and types. Being a form of borrowing that involves charges, credit cards usually have underlying credit terms and conditions affect your overall cost. Some of the important terms to be understood well include the annual percentage rate or the APR.
  Aside from APR, you should understand outstanding balance, finance charge for each billing period, free period or “grace period,” annual fees, transaction fees and other charges, other costs and feature, and balance computation method for the finance charge like average daily balance, adjusted balance, previous balance, and two-cycle balances.
• Compare numerous credit cards that would best serve your needs.
• Apply for the credit card of your choice by filling out a credit card application by visiting a bank representative or through online.

Tips for using credit card

• Always plan for the purchases that you need and those that you want. Make your purchase list, and stick with it.
• Do not just pay the minimal amount. You will end up paying huge interest. The quicker you clear the debt the better.
• Unless it is an emergency, staying within your credit limits will help you a great deal. If you must spend over the limit, ensure you are within the manageable levels, say within 30 percent.
• Do not use your credit card to make house hold purchases. It’s expensive in the long run

If you caught in difficulties on paying, here are some tips for you. Talk to the issuer who might re-schedule your payments. If you simply default, that only helps to build up an unfavorable credit history and you might find yourself being denied credit next time.