Tips for Christmas gift shopping using pre approved low interest credit cards.
Christmas credit card and shopping tips. Best Christmas gifts are low interest credit cards, or get a pre-paid Christmas charge card. Read our free shopping tips for theft protection.
Make safe credit card purchases during your offline and online Christmas gift shopping. Here are
Christmas credit card safety tips.
Sign your credit cardbefore Christmas shopping.
Treat your credit cards as you would cash. Don't leave them unattended. Report lost or stolen credit cards immediately.
During Christmas cashiers are hurried. Ensure yourcredit card is returned after every gift purchase.
Don't be victimized by telemarketer fraud during Christmas. Never give your credit card number on the phone unless you initiate the call.
After delivering Christmas gifts and your receipts are no longer needed, shred, tear, or black out account numbers before tossing into the trash.
Close all unused credit card accounts and destroy unwanted cards.
When using a credit card to purchase online Christmas gifts, ensure the merchant has proper security measures. If unsure, order your Christmas gifts online but consider sending a check or money order for payment.
When you buy Christmas gifts, each time you use your credit card; whether for Christmas gifts online or offline, make a record of the date, merchant and amount of charge, then compare with your credit card statements to look for fraudulent charges.
New wallet Christmas gift? If a credit card was carried in a wallet, before tossing the old wallet not only should you ensure removal of the credit card, but also examine the old wallet and destroy "impressions" of the card number in the material.
Remember: it's far safer to carry a credit card with a $5,000 spending limit than to carry $5,000 in cash while Christmas shopping.
Free
tips to help you get the most cashback, discounts and other rewards with a
retail store Christmas credit card or a gas credit card.
Department store credit cards and gas credit cards can help establish or rebuild credit, and some also offer other rewards like cashback.
Unfortunately, not following the terms and conditions will void those benefits. Read these free tips about retail store charge cards.
Focus
on two or three cards - Don't have more than two store charge cards and gas
credit cards, so you can manage payments and track rewards. Some cards require
you to make a certain volume of purchases, so if you have too many cards and
you're spreading purchases across all those different cards, you may not be able
to meet the minimum requirements for any one particular card.
Keep
balance below 20% of the credit limit - Higher balances lower your credit score
and are more difficult to pay off. No one can forecast an income tragedy or
expense emergency. Per every $100 dollars of credit, charge only $20.
Don't
sacrifice your budget just to earn rewards - Store charge cards and gas credit
cards offer incentives like certificates or cashback by charging a certain
amount of money, but you'll probably save more money by limiting purchases and
paying off balances fast.
Make
payments on time - This is a given tip for any credit card. Timely payments are
important for establishing and rebuilding credit, especially with credit cards.
Also, you'll avoid late fees and added interest.
Payoff
balances monthly - Typically these types of credit cards have high interest
rates and carrying a balance can easily cost more than the rewards earned if you
don't payoff in full during the grace period.
Don't
add a new charge to an existing balance - Don't add new charges if you haven't
completely paid off previous charges.
Need more information? Read our financial and credit articles related to a Christmas credit card, and join our online financial newsletter.
Credit
Card
During
the year there are several holiday seasons during which credit cards are used
more often to charge gifts, do extra shopping, to prepare meals, or help prepare
festivities for family and friends. Lists are made, groceries and gifts are
purchased, and all of this makes for fun activities and making holidays special.
The great thing about using credit cards during all the rush of shopping and
purchasing special items, is that when the statement arrives it is easy to see
where all the spending took place. Those same statements can help make returning
purchases easier and faster in the event the receipt was lost. The item can be
matched to the transaction numbers on the statement and the credit card can be
credited with the return. It does not get much better than that.
Using
a credit card when there is not any extra paycheck, has helped fund many special
occasions for people who have been unsuccessful in getting approved for personal
loans. When charging is kept within reason, just like only borrowing money,
it is not a problem later. There is always credit card abuse and taking out too
many loans that can be repaid back by some people. Those people who try to be
financially responsible and repay their debts, use credit cards and fast cash
loans as financial tools.
Holiday
seasons do not have to land people into debt from overspending, when the
spending is planned and limited. Getting into debt can happen not only during
special occasions but can happen throughout the year. People every day damage
their credit due to over spending, without it being a holiday. Holidays, for
some people, may encourage a spirit of giving, which may lead to exhausting the
monthly income. Credit cards can help for those times when gifts need to be
purchased or bills need to be paid before the next paycheck arrives. It is about
setting limits and making some wise choices.
To
eliminate the need for cards and loans, having a savings account can be helpful.
Some consumers are good about having an emergency fund for those periods when
extra spending is needed. Yet many people never have a savings account. It is
surprising the people who do not even use a checking account. Since there are
options to apply for prepaid
or debit cards, regular unsecured
cards are not the only choice to be able to use plastic for spending. Using
a piece of plastic can be rewarding without getting into debt. Prepaid cards are
often advertised as guaranteed approval cards. The wonderful thing is that a
credit card balance will not be due when the statement arrives. If money is not
loaded onto the card, the card can not be used for purchases. The cardholder can
only spend what they have funded on the card.
Many
of these cards require only small deposits and a monthly or yearly fee. The
important thing to remember is that if the card has not been funded, it can not
be used. These cards can have online statement features to track spending,
online account management, and easy ways to preload the card as needed. The
great thing is that if it is lost or stolen, the money is not gone forever like
cash that is lost. However, the card should be reported lost or stolen as soon
as possible.
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A joint secured credit card may be the best option as a family credit card, because spending can be controlled as there is a preset spending limit dependent upon the amount of the deposit. An unsecured high limit credit card could prove disastrous particularly if you allow young adults to be authorized account users. If you do choose to go unsecured for the family, you can somewhat control purchases if you don't opt for a flexible spending credit card. Perhaps a department store card which imposes a line of credit limit would be the wisest choice for a joint family account.
