If your credit rating is fairly good, then you probably receive credit card offers in the mail on a regular basis. Companies lure new customers with introductory 0% interest rates or low rates for balance transfers. If you receive such offers, then read the fine print before you apply for a card. Before you accept any offer, take a look at your financial situation and your debt management capabilities; you don’t want to add to your personal debt.

The first thing most consumers look at in credit cards is the annual percentage rate, or APR. While this is an important factor, it is not the only thing to consider when evaluating offers. You also need to look at things like finance charges, over-limit fees and late charges. These things can add up to a higher than expected bill. If you plan to pay off your balance every month, then you should also look at the grace period. This is the period of time you have to pay off your balance before the company starts charging interest. In recent years, grace periods have gotten shorter, and many card companies have done away with them altogether. However, many companies still have grace periods as long as 25 days. If you pay off your credit cards every month, then this will be a benefit to you.

Many consumers look for credit card offers with low introductory rates or low rates for balance transfers. Some companies offer rates as low as 0% APR. Consumers with a lot of debts can save money in interest by taking advantage of such offers. If you decide to take advantage of these low rates, remember they are only temporary. You should apply for a card offering them only if you are fairly certain that you will be able to pay off your balance before the introductory period expires.

More On: Shopping For A Credit Card

Technorati Tags: credit card offers, debt management, in credit cards, card debt, personal debt

Quickly bookmark Doing Your Credit Card Shopping at:                                                

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 6:31 am and is filed under Financial Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.