Get More From Your Credit Card Use

By Author: Alisdair Cosgrove
Total Articles: 184
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With the Christmas season fast approaching, it is more important than ever to try to avoid using store cards wherever possible. This is because of the tendency to overspend when you enter the store for which you have a credit card and see something that really strikes your fancy. So many people turn to credit cards to help ease the financial crunch associated with buying Christmas gifts for family and friends and delaying the inevitable of paying for these purchases until the start of the. The reality of spending too much on store cards sinks in when you get your statement in January.

Store cards are easy to obtain, especially now that the credit card companies are approving fewer applications. There is no doubt that thousands of consumers are planning to use their store cards to make the purchases they need for Christmas this year to help ease their financial burden over the holidays. The problem with using such a card for this reason makes itself known in January when the first statement appears. The interest charged on the purchases you make may be more than the minimum payment required, which means it will take you ...
... a very long time indeed to pay off this account.

You need to exercise caution is this is the manner in which you plan to fund your Christmas expenses, Store cards charged higher than normal rates of interest, which makes it harder to pay them off in full within a reasonable time frame. Despite investigations into the exorbitant rates by the Competition Commission, the stores that offer such credit cards still haven't lowered their interest rates. When you receive your store card statement, take note of the amount of interest charged on your purchases for the month and compare it to the minimum payment required. There is probably such a small difference in the two amounts that you will be paying next to nothing on the outstanding balance of your account..

Another of the pitfalls of using store cards is that when you have such a card you are more likely to visit that store more often and when you see an item you would like to have then you can readily buy it. It is very enticing to consumers to be able to shop in this manner and this is what has caused so many to find themselves in financial difficulty. They may not have the financial means to repay the full balance at the end of the month, which means they have no other option but to make the minimum payment.

When you allow the interest charges to build up on the purchases you made using a store card, it doesn't make any difference whether or not you paid less for the item than you would have at another location. The interest on the balance will wipe out any discounts your received. Paying the monthly payments on the account will actually mean that the items you bought were more expensive when the interest is added to them over time.

Take charge of your finances and if you must use a store card, use it to your advantage. This means that you should make every effort to pay the outstanding balance in full each month to avoid being ripped off by the company and helping it make a profit.
Alisdair Cosgrove has been writing credit card hints and tips for many years and can find more of his work at the UK site www.CreditCardsBureau.co.uk, offering credit card deals for UK residents and also a great selection of 0% balance transfers.