Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping?
Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.
What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.
When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.
What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.
More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties
Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.
Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.
Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.
Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.
There has been over six hundred thousand mortgage foreclosures since the first three months of the year. This is the highest since about the 1970s. The average thirty year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.45%.
Government spending was to hopefully fuel the housing market and jumpstart the economy. Job losses have had a negative effect on the housing markets. Some homeowners are still falling behind on mortgage payments and there is an increase in delinquencies.
The numbers for foreclosures could have been lower in earlier quarters due to the halt on foreclosures. Now that all the information for loan modification programs are out, foreclosures still seem to be on the rise. There are vacant homes and homeowners who can not pay their mortgage notes.
A few years ago there was an increase in defaulting subprime loans. The more common defaults were on the adjustable rate mortgages. The problem seemed to occur when the low fixed rates ended and then homeowners could not afford the note.
Subprime mortgages were given to borrowers who did not have the best credit scores and were at risk borrowers. The housing market was doing well and possible payment problems were delayed. Many borrowers were paying bills using their home equity or cash out refinancing loans.
The largest new foreclosures may be from the subprime lending. About 40% of the foreclosures could be from California, Florida, Azizona, and Nevada as those states had the highest rates of subprime lending. Some economist predict that these problems may continue well into 2010.
It will take employment to help the mortgage market improve. The unemployment rate may not peak until the middle of 2010. Even with government spending to try to help the economy, the Treasury has been forced to sell large amounts of debt. The good news is that the mortgage rates are still lower than last year.
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Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.
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