Consumer bankruptcy

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.

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Consumer bankruptcy

By Credit Federal | Published 01/11/2006

Bankruptcy: Consumer bankruptcies set record in 2005: study

Consumer bankruptcies increased to a record 2.04 million in 2005, as people rushed to seek protection from creditors ahead of tough new laws, data released on Wednesday show.

Bankruptcy filing rose 31.6 percent from 1.55 million in 2004, with increases in every U.S. state and double-digit percentage increases in every geographic region, according to Lundquist Consulting Inc., a financial research firm. One in every 53 households filed for court protection, the firm said.

Chapter 7 filings, which provide the greatest relief for consumers, surged 47.2 percent, while Chapter 13 filings declined 7.9 percent.

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect October 17, made it harder to erase debts and made filings more costly. The changes constituted the biggest overhaul to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code since 1978.

In perhaps the biggest change, a new "means test" prevents debtors from using Chapter 7 if they earn more than the median income in their states, and can repay some of their debt. They must instead use Chapter 13, which requires repayments.

Credit-card issuers championed the new law, saying old laws encouraged abuse.

Banks such as Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have said they will suffer hundreds of millions of dollars of fourth-quarter losses related to the filing surge, but expected to make this up in future periods because filings would decline.

There were only 38,000 consumer bankruptcy filings between October 17 and December 31, Burlingame, California-based Lundquist said. Nearly 60 percent of these were Chapter 13 filings, double the historical norm, it said.

California was the biggest state in 2005 volume with 164,856 bankruptcy filings, up 35.9 percent from 2004. Ohio was second, with 135,142 filings, up 51.7 percent.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts expects to release 2005 filing data around March 1. The office is an information clearinghouse for the federal court system.

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Consumer bankruptcy - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> Bankruptcy: Consumer bankruptcies set record in 2005: study Consumer bankruptcies increased to a record 2.04 million in 2005, as people rushed to seek protection from creditors ahead of tough new laws, data released on Wednesday show. <a href="http://creditfederal.com/file-bankruptcy.html">Bankruptcy filing</a> rose 31.6 percent from 1.55 million in 2004, with increases in every U.S. state and double-digit percentage increases in every geographic region, according to Lundquist Consulting Inc., a financial research firm. One in every 53 households filed for court protection, the firm said. Chapter 7 filings, which provide the greatest relief for consumers, surged 47.2 percent, while Chapter 13 filings declined 7.9 percent. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect October 17, made it harder to erase debts and made filings more costly. The changes constituted the biggest overhaul to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code since 1978. In perhaps the biggest change, a new "means test" prevents debtors from using Chapter 7 if they earn more than the median income in their states, and can repay some of their debt. They must instead use Chapter 13, which requires repayments. Credit-card issuers championed the new law, saying old laws encouraged abuse. Banks such as Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have said they will suffer hundreds of millions of dollars of fourth-quarter losses related to the filing surge, but expected to make this up in future periods because filings would decline. There were only 38,000 consumer bankruptcy filings between October 17 and December 31, Burlingame, California-based Lundquist said. Nearly 60 percent of these were Chapter 13 filings, double the historical norm, it said. California was the biggest state in 2005 volume with 164,856 bankruptcy filings, up 35.9 percent from 2004. Ohio was second, with 135,142 filings, up 51.7 percent. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts expects to release 2005 filing data around March 1. The office is an information clearinghouse for the federal court system. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

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.