Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Actual for You - How to Save 1000s of $$$ with Low Rate Credit Cards
I have been running an affordable website design service for the past ten years, and business has never been better. When I tell my friends about it, they are surprised. A lot of people assume that, since the dot com bubble burst, it has been a tough market for website designers. In some ways, they are right. There are tens of thousands of people who can do affordable web site design, and there are more every day. It is no longer a highly specialized skill which people are willing to pay big bucks for. But, if you are willing to put in the effort, there is quite a market available.You see, the market for affordable website design is much broader than it used to be. Back in the good old days, there were no affordable website designs. If you wanted to have a website, you had to pay the cash or learn the trade. The very idea of affordable websites design was absurd. It was like asking for affordable brain surgery. There were so few people who knew how to design a website that you had to pay them a lot of money if you wanted it done.Nowadays, however, affordable website design is the biggest part of the industry. It is so much quicker and easier to design a website that you can not charge a lot of money for the service any more. No one will want to pay! Then again, you can do a lot more business. There are bloggers, for example, who will pay for affordable website design. They already have functioning websites, but they might want them to look a little better, or to get more hits. You can do affordable website design for local businesses. Although this kind of work does not pay what it used to, it also does not take as much effort as it used to.The bottom line is that there are people all over the world who are
Associations
Sherry says it’s a good idea to investigate any credit card offers that may come through associations you are part of such as alumni groups. These large groups often have more muscle to negotiate special terms for their members. For example, for their members, AARP got the binding arbitration clause, which has come under scrutiny recently by consumer advocates, left out off the terms and conditions of the AARP credit card.
Online
Finally, CardRatings.com offers detailed comparisons of the lowe
I’m always talking about the different strategies that publishers can use to get more people to click their ads. And I’m always saying that there’s one bottom line to all of those strategies: blending the ads into the page so that they look like part of the content... and not something served by some outside advertiser that the reader doesn’t give two hoots about.There are lots of different ways to do that. You can match the colors of the ad to the colors on your site. You can match the fonts used in the ad to the fonts on the site. You can take out the borders so that it’s less clear where the content ends and the ad begins. And you can put the ads where people are going to be looking anyway. That’s just to name a few.All of those things help. But none of them will help if the users don’t trust the content in the first place.Everything we do to boost our income can really be summed up as saying to the user: “Click here. You’ll love it. Trust me.” We can’t say that straight out so we have to make sure that when a user sees a link on our websites, they understand automatically that that link comes recommended.That understanding can only come with trust.I think there are two sides to building that trust.The first is to always give the reader exactly the sort of content he’s looking for. When a user enters a keyword in a search engine, spots your site on the results page and clicks, you have to give him content related to the keyword. And not just any old content -- good content. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve clicked on a good-looking link on Google only to find a page full of keywords and ads. You can bet I didn’t click the ads to get out of there.The other side to bui
What is considered a low interest rate
According to Linda Sherry, editorial director and spokesperson for Consumer Action, anything below 10% is an attractive rate in today’s market.
Look at the Savings
Are the savings really all that much with a low rate credit card? Here’s an example to show you just how much you will save.
Let’s say you have a $2500 balance on your credit card, you make the minimum 2.5% payment, and you don’t add any new charges to the card. With an 18% APR (annual percentage rate) it would take you 20.3 years to pay the card off at the cost of $3365.51 in interest alone.
If you are able to lower that interest rate to the average standard, fixed rate of 12.99%* you will reduce the time it takes to pay off the debt to 15.2 years and your total interest will be $1732.95—a 48.5% savings over the 18% APR.
But if you can qualify for a 9% APR, your debt will be paid off in 12.6 years with a total of $977.48 in interest—a whopping 71% savings over the 18% card. And if you commit to paying the first month’s minimum payment of $62.50 each month until the entire balance is paid off, then you will shave off another 8.6 years and another $494.01 in interest.
Who can get the lowest rates
In order to get the lowest advertised you will need a good credit rating. While most issuers have their own criteria for a good credit rating, Sherry says that in general a FICO score of 675+ is good and 750+ is excellent. If you are in a situation where you need to raise your current score, please read our article is a Credit Score Calculated and How Can I Improve My Credit Score?
Where you Can Find the Lowest Rates
If you do have a good to excellent credit rating, then according to Gerri Detweiler, founder of DebtConsolidationRX.com and author of The Ultimate Credit Handbook, if you are paying more than 10-12% you need to start searching for a lower rate card and there are several different avenues of approach.
Read Your Mail
Often times the best offers come right to your mailbox. But you need to read through the offer very carefully to determine if it is an introductory rate or a long-term rate (ongoing). Also, Sherry says you need to look for the words “you are pre-approved” as opposed to “you are invited to apply.” If it is an invitation only, you may not qualify for the rate advertised, and you won’t know until after you apply. You should also be aware that you may not get the rate advertised in a pre-approved offer. In fact, you may even be declined for the card. Please be aware that almost all of these mail offers are marketing schemes rather than true pre-approved offers.
Learn to Negotiate
Mail offers and other low rate credit cards you carry can come in handy as a negotiating tool with your current card issuer. Scott Bilker, creator of DebtSmart.com and author of Talk Your Way out of Credit Card Debt, suggests calling your issuer and letting them know you have better offers elsewhere and that you are considering switching to another card if they won’t lower your rate.
Don’t be afraid to take back control…in today’s saturated market, credit card issuers are looking to hang onto customers. If you want to know exactly what to say to a credit card customer service rep., check out Bilker’s book which contains transcripts from actual telephone conversations with reps.
Local Banks and Credit Unions
When shopping for a low rate credit card, looking to a local bank or credit union may be a good option. In addition to a good rate you may find the customer service more personal and appealing. But beware of banks that offer a rate significantly lower than the big banks or below the , especially if you know your credit is not good enough to qualify. Another thing to consider is that introductory rate offers from local banks and credit unions are not generally as aggressive as introductory offers from larger banks.
Associations
Sherry says it’s a good idea to investigate any credit card offers that may come through associations you are part of such as alumni groups. These large groups often have more muscle to negotiate special terms for their members. For example, for their members, AARP got the binding arbitration clause, which has come under scrutiny recently by consumer advocates, left out off the terms and conditions of the AARP credit card.
Online
Finally, CardRatings.com offers detailed comparisons of the lowe
Okay, you could come up with some twist or some edge that would really set you apart. Now, writing an e-book. Have you written a book before?Writing an e-book can be as simple as writing out this list of ten things and then having ten things that belong in there, writing one article about each one of these 100 things, okay? The first set of ten things under fitness would be your chapters. Now remember, this can be 15 or 20. We're using ten to make it nice and easy. You have your ten chapters. So...give me three things you know about fitness. I want to make this real and tangible here. What are the first three areas of fitness that you know something about?That's fine for this. We're just brainstorming. How about exercises, certain exercises? Now we've got equipment. So, your first chapter... I don't even want to say first chapter, but one of your chapters would be on equipment... one of your chapters would be on weight loss, one of them would be on exercises. Then you'd go through it and you'd have these ten other ideas, so you'd have your ten chapters.Probably come up with 12 or 15. Then what you'd do is you'd have ten topics underneath this equipment. You'd have 10 topics underneath weight loss and you'd have 10 topics underneath exercises. You know, you may have more than that. Underneath exercises, you might write one article about each exercise. You might have 25 articles there.25 different exercises. When you write this collection of articles, three or four hundred words apiece about each one of these little topics that you know, if you organize them in the same way that we're talking about right here, you're going to end up with a 150 to 200 page book. If you don't really just try to
If you are able to lower that interest rate to the average standard, fixed rate of 12.99%* you will reduce the time it takes to pay off the debt to 15.2 years and your total interest will be $1732.95—a 48.5% savings over the 18% APR.
But if you can qualify for a 9% APR, your debt will be paid off in 12.6 years with a total of $977.48 in interest—a whopping 71% savings over the 18% card. And if you commit to paying the first month’s minimum payment of $62.50 each month until the entire balance is paid off, then you will shave off another 8.6 years and another $494.01 in interest.
Who can get the lowest rates
In order to get the lowest advertised you will need a good credit rating. While most issuers have their own criteria for a good credit rating, Sherry says that in general a FICO score of 675+ is good and 750+ is excellent. If you are in a situation where you need to raise your current score, please read our article is a Credit Score Calculated and How Can I Improve My Credit Score?
Where you Can Find the Lowest Rates
If you do have a good to excellent credit rating, then according to Gerri Detweiler, founder of DebtConsolidationRX.com and author of The Ultimate Credit Handbook, if you are paying more than 10-12% you need to start searching for a lower rate card and there are several different avenues of approach.
Read Your Mail
Often times the best offers come right to your mailbox. But you need to read through the offer very carefully to determine if it is an introductory rate or a long-term rate (ongoing). Also, Sherry says you need to look for the words “you are pre-approved” as opposed to “you are invited to apply.” If it is an invitation only, you may not qualify for the rate advertised, and you won’t know until after you apply. You should also be aware that you may not get the rate advertised in a pre-approved offer. In fact, you may even be declined for the card. Please be aware that almost all of these mail offers are marketing schemes rather than true pre-approved offers.
Learn to Negotiate
Mail offers and other low rate credit cards you carry can come in handy as a negotiating tool with your current card issuer. Scott Bilker, creator of DebtSmart.com and author of Talk Your Way out of Credit Card Debt, suggests calling your issuer and letting them know you have better offers elsewhere and that you are considering switching to another card if they won’t lower your rate.
Don’t be afraid to take back control…in today’s saturated market, credit card issuers are looking to hang onto customers. If you want to know exactly what to say to a credit card customer service rep., check out Bilker’s book which contains transcripts from actual telephone conversations with reps.
Local Banks and Credit Unions
When shopping for a low rate credit card, looking to a local bank or credit union may be a good option. In addition to a good rate you may find the customer service more personal and appealing. But beware of banks that offer a rate significantly lower than the big banks or below the , especially if you know your credit is not good enough to qualify. Another thing to consider is that introductory rate offers from local banks and credit unions are not generally as aggressive as introductory offers from larger banks.
Associations
Sherry says it’s a good idea to investigate any credit card offers that may come through associations you are part of such as alumni groups. These large groups often have more muscle to negotiate special terms for their members. For example, for their members, AARP got the binding arbitration clause, which has come under scrutiny recently by consumer advocates, left out off the terms and conditions of the AARP credit card.
Online
Finally, CardRatings.com offers detailed comparisons of the lowe
Yahoo has announced recently that they will be joining Google in introducing an advertising program where advertisers can pay per click. Using this method advertisers can set a budget by selecting how much they are willing to pay per visitor, and how many visitors they can afford per day.In response to this opportunity sites like www.googlehomebusiness.com have released eBooks, tutorials, and short courses, that offer guidance to website owners looking to advertise their sites by using pay per click search engine programs from Google and Yahoo.These courses illustrate the process of setting up online campaigns, writing effective ads, focusing on the right market, and strategies for measuring the results of your online campaigns.“Just like print advertisers hire advertising agencies to design and run their campaigns, online advertisers need to be able to access seasoned advice for advertising online,” said Donny Lowy, who is the author of Selling Online: Beyond eBay.According to Donny, there are specialized techniques and methods that are needed to properly advertise online. Since the barrier to entry is very low, there are many site owners who are simply throwing away their advertising budgets on ineffective campaigns.“Low entry barriers mean that anyone can start advertising online because it requires less than $100 to start. People also see this is an easy way to capture leads and increase sales.”In reality it seems that the majority of online sites are still struggling. While there are more opportunities to advertise online, and at a lower rate than previously, the challenge of capturing sales online seems to be level with past ratios.“Online entrepreneurs can beat the odds and
Where you Can Find the Lowest Rates
If you do have a good to excellent credit rating, then according to Gerri Detweiler, founder of DebtConsolidationRX.com and author of The Ultimate Credit Handbook, if you are paying more than 10-12% you need to start searching for a lower rate card and there are several different avenues of approach.
Read Your Mail
Often times the best offers come right to your mailbox. But you need to read through the offer very carefully to determine if it is an introductory rate or a long-term rate (ongoing). Also, Sherry says you need to look for the words “you are pre-approved” as opposed to “you are invited to apply.” If it is an invitation only, you may not qualify for the rate advertised, and you won’t know until after you apply. You should also be aware that you may not get the rate advertised in a pre-approved offer. In fact, you may even be declined for the card. Please be aware that almost all of these mail offers are marketing schemes rather than true pre-approved offers.
Learn to Negotiate
Mail offers and other low rate credit cards you carry can come in handy as a negotiating tool with your current card issuer. Scott Bilker, creator of DebtSmart.com and author of Talk Your Way out of Credit Card Debt, suggests calling your issuer and letting them know you have better offers elsewhere and that you are considering switching to another card if they won’t lower your rate.
Don’t be afraid to take back control…in today’s saturated market, credit card issuers are looking to hang onto customers. If you want to know exactly what to say to a credit card customer service rep., check out Bilker’s book which contains transcripts from actual telephone conversations with reps.
Local Banks and Credit Unions
When shopping for a low rate credit card, looking to a local bank or credit union may be a good option. In addition to a good rate you may find the customer service more personal and appealing. But beware of banks that offer a rate significantly lower than the big banks or below the , especially if you know your credit is not good enough to qualify. Another thing to consider is that introductory rate offers from local banks and credit unions are not generally as aggressive as introductory offers from larger banks.
Associations
Sherry says it’s a good idea to investigate any credit card offers that may come through associations you are part of such as alumni groups. These large groups often have more muscle to negotiate special terms for their members. For example, for their members, AARP got the binding arbitration clause, which has come under scrutiny recently by consumer advocates, left out off the terms and conditions of the AARP credit card.
Online
Finally, CardRatings.com offers detailed comparisons of the lowe
Even if the major electricity suppliers do not apply price reductions now, they should at the very least forego any further electricity price increases.After all, the profits that have been reported have been generated from the unprecedented rise in wholesale prices – yes, those same wholesale price rises that necessitated the retail price increases in the first place.Yet they, like all the other major electricity suppliers, seem determined to have their cake and eat it by once again claiming that the retail business is a separate entity from upstream generation.Those energy giants who operate in both generation and supply gain a massive advantage by not having to go to the wholesale market for their supplies. Their supplies are simply transferred from their generating activities.Those of us whose only option is to purchase from the wholesale market discover that prices are distorted by virtue of the energy giants’ absence. The market is too small to operate properly and is therefore illiquid. The end result is a barrier to the very competition that de-regulation was supposed to create. Like Energywatch we believe there should be a competition commission investigation into whether the market really is working. If prices fail to come down, it will only add weight to the call for market structure change.The only feasible solution to redress this imbalance would be to force all parties to source their supplies from the one wholesale market which would be likely to drive down prices and lead to a far better deal for the energy consumer.The European Competition Commission is currently investigating the barriers to competition in gas and electricity markets throughout Europe and is expected t
Learn to Negotiate
Mail offers and other low rate credit cards you carry can come in handy as a negotiating tool with your current card issuer. Scott Bilker, creator of DebtSmart.com and author of Talk Your Way out of Credit Card Debt, suggests calling your issuer and letting them know you have better offers elsewhere and that you are considering switching to another card if they won’t lower your rate.
Don’t be afraid to take back control…in today’s saturated market, credit card issuers are looking to hang onto customers. If you want to know exactly what to say to a credit card customer service rep., check out Bilker’s book which contains transcripts from actual telephone conversations with reps.
Local Banks and Credit Unions
When shopping for a low rate credit card, looking to a local bank or credit union may be a good option. In addition to a good rate you may find the customer service more personal and appealing. But beware of banks that offer a rate significantly lower than the big banks or below the , especially if you know your credit is not good enough to qualify. Another thing to consider is that introductory rate offers from local banks and credit unions are not generally as aggressive as introductory offers from larger banks.
Associations
Sherry says it’s a good idea to investigate any credit card offers that may come through associations you are part of such as alumni groups. These large groups often have more muscle to negotiate special terms for their members. For example, for their members, AARP got the binding arbitration clause, which has come under scrutiny recently by consumer advocates, left out off the terms and conditions of the AARP credit card.
Online
Finally, CardRatings.com offers detailed comparisons of the lowe
In the business industry there are lots of strategies in which advertisers do to promote the products and services their company can give. Though it is said that advertising needs bigger budget businesses still find ways on how to economically minimize their advertising cost.Using business cards for advertising can be a great passport in winning your client’s attention. First they are cost effective. Second they are portable to be carried anywhere and lastly it carries vital information regarding your business.As a tool that you use for your advertising and promotions these business cards must have quality and compelling designs. In this article we will discuss further the business cards design guidelines in order to achieve successful advertising and campaign.The designs are the core features of your business cards. If you want to succeed captivating business cards, your designs should bear it all. Though it may be quite expensive yet you can creatively make a design of your own. With just a little touch of creativity, artistry and patience you are on the right path of creating stand out designs.The following business cards design guidelines can help you craft an effective business cards design.1.Layout plan – it will be a very good idea if you have a layout plan for your business cards design. This is because you are about to bring into paper the idea that you have in mind. Since you are competing in the outside world you need a unique design. With your layout you can decide what features to include and what not to add.2.Effects – This feature is very effective because you can easily trigger your client’s attention. It does not only make your cards look catchy and attractive but it als
Associations
Sherry says it’s a good idea to investigate any credit card offers that may come through associations you are part of such as alumni groups. These large groups often have more muscle to negotiate special terms for their members. For example, for their members, AARP got the binding arbitration clause, which has come under scrutiny recently by consumer advocates, left out off the terms and conditions of the AARP credit card.
Online
Finally, CardRatings.com offers detailed comparisons of the lowest rate cards currently available. Browse our Card Reports section and conveniently apply online to start reducing your interest charges.
So Many Choices…Some things to Consider
Variable vs. Fixed Rate Credit Cards
Most of the low rate credit cards offered today are variable rate cards. This means the APR is attached to an index such as Prime or LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offered Rate) and changes according to changes in the index. The credit card terms and conditions will say something like “Prime + 4%.” So if Prime is 6%, then your interest rate is 10%.
And although not currently common, it is still good to be aware that issuers can apply a floor, or minimum, to the rate. For example, if the terms are Prime + 4% with a floor of 10% and Prime drops to 5% you would get a 10% APR rather than the 9%. According to Sherry this was more common 3 years ago when interest rates really dropped, but became a less frequent practice as consumers started pressuring issuers to ban floors.
Even with low rate cards advertised as having fixed rates, keep in mind credit card issuers reserve the right to change the terms and conditions, including the APR, of the card for virtually any reason at any time. If changes do affect your fixed APR card, your issuer is normally required to give you 15 days written notice; so it’s very important to open all your mail because if you happen to throw out the notice, then you will forfeit any right you may be given to opt-out of the rate increase. And Sherry says once you make a purchase under the new rate terms, even if you didn’t read the notice, you have agreed to accept the new terms and conditions.
Credit card issuers can even change a fixed rate card to a variable card and vice versa with little notice. Fixed rates are rarely fixed forever. In the credit card world Bilker defines forever as the time it takes to pay something off. :0) The only real advantage of a fixed rate card is the rate usually doesn't increase as often as a variable rate card in a rising rate environment (this can work against you if rates are falling).
Is the low rate for purchases only?
Most of the time a low APR applies to purchases, but not cash advances. The cash advance APR is generally much higher. If you do end up taking a cash advance on a low rate card you need to be aware that issuers normally apply payments to the balance with the lowest APR—so your cash advance balance will keep earning interest (usually at a much higher rate) until your purchase balance is paid off. However, a few cards do come with a low cash advance APR, so make sure you read all the fine print.
Fees
Annual fees are pretty much a thing of the past. The one notable exception is credit cards that have very low ongoing rates, usually defined as being within 2 points of Prime. If you do come across a card offer that has an annual fee and rate within 2 points or so of Prime, then use our online calculators to compare the cost savings to a card without an annual fee and a little higher APR.
If you plan to transfer a balance to a low rate card, then determine how much a fee you will pay before initiating the transfer. Detweiler says a cap of $25 on balance transfer fees is generally okay, but if they charge a fee of 3-4% with no cap it’s probably not worthwhile. Doing a few calculations will help you determine if the savings are there.
Using a Low Rate Card to Your Advantage
The point of using a low rate credit card is to save you money if you carry a balance month to month. Here are some tips to make sure you are maximizing its usefulness.
Make your Payments Early
If your credit card issuer uses the average daily balance method to calculate interest (see glossary below), then you will benefit by making payments before the due date because it reduces the average daily balance your monthly interest is based on.
Manage your Credit Well
With a low rate credit card you need to make sure yo
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.actual4u.com/article/92150/actual4u-How-to-Save-1000s-of--with-Low-Rate-Credit-Cards.html">How to Save 1000s of $$$ with Low Rate Credit Cards</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.actual4u.com/article/92150/actual4u-How-to-Save-1000s-of--with-Low-Rate-Credit-Cards.html]How to Save 1000s of $$$ with Low Rate Credit Cards[/url]
Related Articles:
Learning Superior Customer Service Skills
Resume Writing Success - Ten Little Online Mistakes That Can Sabotage Your Job Search
Vending Cart or Food Concession Trailer - That is the Question?
Bookmark it:
|