How to find the best credit card with a 0% APR balance transfer

November 20, 2008 · Filed Under Credit Card · Comment 

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When you are shopping for a credit card with a 0% APR balance transfer, you must look for the introductory offer on the card. You are getting more benefits if you have the introductory offer for a longer period. The introductory offer can range between three to twelve months. Your introductory period of 0% will be for a longer period if you have good credit ratings.

You should check for the annual fee before you go for the introductory offer balance transfer with a credit card company. There are many companies that charge their annual fee but in most cases, you should be able to get it for free.

There is a fee on the balance transfer at 0% APR. This is charged by almost all companies. This is a transaction fee for the balance transfers. This fee can be at a range of 3% of the amount of each transaction, and have a minimum. The maximum can go up to $100. Therefore when more than a certain amount of balance is transferred with these cards, the fee may be less than 3% of the amount of transaction. For example, when more than $7,500 balance is transferred to the credit card with a maximum of $75, the fee is $75.00 and less than 1% of the amount of transaction.

The 0% APR balance transfer card has the following features:

  • This offer can last up to 12 months.
  • There is no annual fee on the balance transfer
  • Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount of each transaction with a maximum of $75.

These features on the balance transfer can save you a lot of money when you are paying high interest rates on other credit cards. Furthermore, if you consolidate all your balances into one credit card without a fee, and then transfer the consolidated balance to the credit card with a maximum of $75 on transfer fee, you still pay $75 towards the fee.

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Have a proper knowledge of your credit cards

November 13, 2008 · Filed Under Credit Card · Comment 

Credit cards are used by all almost everyone. If you have more than two or three credit cards, it is easy to treat them as plastic cash. You don’t have to worry about anything when you need to make a purchase. However, while using your credit cards, you must make sure to use it with complete responsibility so that you don’t face any potential troubles down the road.

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There are many people who usually don’t remember how many credit cards they do have in their wallet. People often mistakenly assume that the purchasing power increases depending on the number of credit cards you possess. They also assume themselves to be a privileged customer when the credit card company calls them and offers a credit card. The truth is that the more credit cards you have and if you are not able to maintain it properly, you will have more negative effects on your credit ratings. Lenders will often assume that you owe some balance to each credit card company that issued you the card. It might be wise to close some of the cards that you don’t use at all. This will certainly help in increasing your credit scores.

Always watch your spending habits. If you purchase any item on credit, make sure that you will be able to pay the full balance within the due dates. If you pay just the minimum amount or a little more than that, the credit card company will be charging you a certain amount on interests and fees. This is how the credit card company will do business from you when the interest will be tacked on to what you owe.

Know the grace period on your credit card. This is the extra time you get after the date of purchase and before the payment due date. Many credit card companies offer a grace period of 20 to 28 days, however there are some companies that start charging interests from the day of your purchase.

Know the late fees charged by your credit card company if you are not able to make the payment on time. Many company charge $30 or more. Read the terms and conditions carefully before signing the application form. If you are not sure of the charges completely, you might end up paying huge amount just in interests and fees after the due dates.

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Six top traffic ticket myths

November 3, 2008 · Filed Under Personal Finance · 1 Comment 

Myth No. 1: If the officer makes a single mistake on your ticket, the case will be dropped.

Clerical mistakes such as a wrong number or wrong order of a person’s name are usually overlooked. Material mistakes, like the identity of the driver, the direction of travel, the street where the citation occurred or the description of the vehicle, can usually help a driver win the case. A mistake that involves who, where and how, can be used to beat the case in a trial. If the vehicle was described inaccurately, the officer will usually lose.

Myth 2: If the officer doesn’t show up in court, you automatically win.

There is nothing like automatically winning the case. The case will be dropped if the judges don’t see the officer appearing in the court. Every defendant has the constitutional rights to question their accusers. The case can be re-scheduled if the officer is willing to show up in the court on a later date.

Myth 3: Red car gets more tickets.

There is no official study to confirm that red cars do get more tickets. However, it has been seen that bold colors tend to attract more attention from other colors of the car. And if they are violating the rules, they are easily caught. Red cars can create an optical illusion that makes them appear to be going faster than they really are.

Myth 4: You need a lawyer to beat a ticket.

With a little time and homework, you can beat a ticket without having an attorney and paying for their fees.

Myth No. 5: If you get a ticket in another state, your home state won’t find out about it.

All information is shared between the Interstate Driver’s License Compact and the states participating in it. Reports on traffic violations and suspensions are forwarded to the home state of the nonresident. Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Michigan and Wisconsin are not members of the DLC. Besides, National Driver Register, or NDR, has information about all drivers whose licenses were revoked and suspended due to serious traffic violations.

Myth 6: You can make an excuse to get out of the ticket

If you have violated the laws, you really can’t escape the police officers who filed the case against you. Any explanation you give about why you were speeding is an admission that you were speeding. If an officer logs those explanations in his notes, the statements could later be used against you in court. That’s why, whenever an officer asks if you know why you’ve been pulled over, always answer “no” and just take the ticket.

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