Credit Cave

Credit cards are the new form of travel money. What once was the realm of the traveler’s check has been taken over by the credit card. Accepted practically anywhere, flexible and easy – it’s easy to see why so many choose to pay with their credit card when they’re abroad. But is it really a good idea? Let’s look into the cost of using a credit card abroad for the typical American tourist or business traveler.
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A lot of people wonder why they should get a gold credit card. There are several benefits to you getting the best credit card you can, with each company offering something different.

The most common benefit of having owning a gold card is the point system. You earn points for the money you spend that you can redeem to get rewards from your credit card provider, shopping online and everyday purchases. You may be lucky enough to get a credit card with double cashback on certain promotional offers.

As someone who uses his credit card quite often, I would recommend to anyone that they get their own gold card. Simply pay off what you’re buying with cash at the end of the month and you’ll be good to go! Getting points and reward for buying simple things like my groceries, petrol, clothes, etc. Also, owning a gold card has a certain prestige around it.

The only problem is qualifying for a gold card. How do you qualify? The first requirement is to have a good credit score and keep it. You will also need to keep your good credit score your gold card, you have to keep your credit score in good standing, otherwise, there’s not much point in them continually rewarding you for having the gold card by giving you all the points to get all the free rewards.

So, how can you get your credit score high enough to qualify for a gold card? Simply start using it more! However, there’s a catch: even though you’re using your card more, you’re going to have to pay it off at the end of the month and whatever other debt you owe. Getting a gold card isn’t hard, it just requires you to be good at controlling your spending and buying habits.

If you can do that for 5-12 months, go to your credit card company and ask them how to get a gold card. They’ll probably sign you up on the spot – and believe me it’s worth having. Continue to use your card monthly and paying off at the end of the month, and you’ll start to see tons of free trips, meals, discounts, etc. thrown your way.

There are times when you have no option but to move money around a little bit in order to make your payments. When this happens, you can and should make use of something known as a balance transfer where you move the balance of one credit card to another and in doing so pay less interest per month. So how do you go about getting this done? Is it tedious? Does it cost anything? In this article, I will discuss how to balance transfer in five easy steps.

1. Contact your credit card company – You won’t be able to get anything done until you get in touch with your credit card company. The thing about credit card companies is that some of them will allow you to transfer balances, while some of them are a bit more restrictive.
2. Search for the best deals – You don’t want to just jump on the first credit card that offers you the right to balance transfer. This is foolish and it is not taking advantage of the many great opportunities on the market. You should, instead, look for credit card companies that are going to offer you a good deal. Credit card companies are usually looking to lure in customers, so they will offer zero percent interest with balance transfer cards for a set period of time. Be aware that there is a fee to arrange the transfer; it’s typically either a percentage of the balance being transferred or a fixed amount, whichever is more.
3. Find out the process at your credit card company – Some companies will send you a check and some of them will want to send a check directly to the company that you owe. Find out what your credit card company offers and how long it will take to setup. This will help you determine what your next move is.
4. Get the money – The next and most important step is that you get your hands on the money. If your credit card company completes balance transfers by sending you the money directly, then wait for the check or wire transfer. If they insist on sending the checks directly to the people you owe, then you will have to supply them with account numbers and the address where they can send the check.
5. Send the money directly – One of the problems with balance transfers is that you can sometimes get distracted with the money. If your credit card company sends you a check, then you should cash it and directly send the money to the company that you owe. If you wait too long, you may end up spending the money on something else and that can be a bad mistake.

The balance transfer procedure is relatively painless and quick. Done properly, a balance transfer can mean the difference between paying back hundreds of dollars per month in interest and getting rid of your credit card debt once and for all.