How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:39 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
Shelly
Date: 1/1/2001 4:43 pm CDT
Hi I have just read the book on Credit Card Debt and was wondering how to find the best interest rates. The author of the book states that all interest rates should be below 10 percent but all the cards the we have seen go from 14.9 to 25 percent? Also how does one qualify for the low interest rates. We have 35,000 in credit debt our average interest rate is 20 percent. I want desperately to understand and use the information in the book to get this burden off of us. Is it really as complicates as it seems? Is there any hope? Bankruptcy and credit counceling are not an option for us at this time. Any help and information would be greatly appreciated. I am new to all of this and it seems a lot to understand in one sitting.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:40 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
Eugene
Date: 1/1/2001 11:41 pm CDT
I have just read the book on Credit Card Debt and was wondering how to find the best interest rates.
What kind of credit book doesn't mention THAT?
Well, you have two options - the easy and dumb one, or the not-so-easy smarter one. (I am guessing you are not getting balance transfer offers at, like, 2.9% promo APR, so the third and the easiest option is out of the question).
The dumber choice is to apply for whatever card gives out a generic promise of "as low as" a certain promo APR. It might not be so dumb if you DO qualify, but (again, because you are not getting any promotional offers) there's a good chance that you will be declined.
I would start where it all starts - at your credit file*. Order reports from each of the three credit bureaus and see what IS wrong there. Negative items will be mentioned and obvious to figure out. Get back to us on how you could try to remove them. Now comes the tricky part. See what MIGHT BE wrong. You might have too many or too few credit card accounts, too high or too low total credit lines for your income, too many new accounts, too many recent inquiries etc. Again, you might want to get back here after you see your report. Or, do a search of past posts here.
THEN apply.
*) Well, it actually starts even earlier. Stop charging. Have a budget. Get a second job. Pay more than just minimums. Attack the card with the highest APR first. Have a plan and stick to it. You know, all of THAT stuff...
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:40 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
BLE103
Date: 1/2/2001 7:47 am CDT
He is right on interest rates being below 10%.Do you want to know why?Well it is simple.The true cost of borrowing is only 6%!that's right it is only 6%!Why does creditor's charge much higher rates then this that a person may ask?It is spelled out in four letters RISK!.This is where credit scoring comes in at.Having a higher credit score is very important for anyone to get the best interest rates on any loans including credit cards.Now to answer your question on how a person qualifies for the lowest interest rate on a credit card.1.Having a good credit score is like having atleast 700 points or more.2.Having a very low debt load like 20% of income or 15% of net pay.Carrying high credit card debt isn't good because many lenders look at credit card debt as bad debt.Why?Because these are typicially unsecured loans,and they fear that 1 day a person may be unable to pay what they owe.3.Having a good income is a must,and having assets would help lock in lower rates on credit cards.It looks like you may have trouble on getting your rates low becuase chances are you may be maxed out on your cards therefore this is very negative for any new ccc.The best suggestion that i can make is for you to paydown on your balances as much as possible then after 6 to 12 months of paying down call your creditor's,and ask them to lower your rates some will,and some won't.Also use balance transfers if you are able to because this is the main ingredient on getting out of credit card debt.The only way that you can do balance transfers is to have some availible credit to work with,and so forth.If you are unable to do this then you will have to wait until you get your balances down so that you can qualify for new credit card accounts to use for balance transfers only.Hope this may be of some kind of help to you.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:41 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
Linda in VA
Date: 1/2/2001 9:10 am CDT
Sometimes, in a case like this, it might be worth borrowing from yourself - for instance, if you have whole life insurance, you may be able to borrow against the cash value, or you might consider borrowing from your 401K. Often the interest rates you pay on these loans is much lower than what you are paying on your credit card, so you will come out ahead.
If you have access to either of these, let me know. I am an insurance agent, and I can tell you the pro's and cons, and how to go about it.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:39 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
Shelly
Date: 1/1/2001 4:43 pm CDT
Hi I have just read the book on Credit Card Debt and was wondering how to find the best interest rates. The author of the book states that all interest rates should be below 10 percent but all the cards the we have seen go from 14.9 to 25 percent? Also how does one qualify for the low interest rates. We have 35,000 in credit debt our average interest rate is 20 percent. I want desperately to understand and use the information in the book to get this burden off of us. Is it really as complicates as it seems? Is there any hope? Bankruptcy and credit counceling are not an option for us at this time. Any help and information would be greatly appreciated. I am new to all of this and it seems a lot to understand in one sitting.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:40 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
Eugene
Date: 1/1/2001 11:41 pm CDT
I have just read the book on Credit Card Debt and was wondering how to find the best interest rates.
What kind of credit book doesn't mention THAT?
Well, you have two options - the easy and dumb one, or the not-so-easy smarter one. (I am guessing you are not getting balance transfer offers at, like, 2.9% promo APR, so the third and the easiest option is out of the question).
The dumber choice is to apply for whatever card gives out a generic promise of "as low as" a certain promo APR. It might not be so dumb if you DO qualify, but (again, because you are not getting any promotional offers) there's a good chance that you will be declined.
I would start where it all starts - at your credit file*. Order reports from each of the three credit bureaus and see what IS wrong there. Negative items will be mentioned and obvious to figure out. Get back to us on how you could try to remove them. Now comes the tricky part. See what MIGHT BE wrong. You might have too many or too few credit card accounts, too high or too low total credit lines for your income, too many new accounts, too many recent inquiries etc. Again, you might want to get back here after you see your report. Or, do a search of past posts here.
THEN apply.
*) Well, it actually starts even earlier. Stop charging. Have a budget. Get a second job. Pay more than just minimums. Attack the card with the highest APR first. Have a plan and stick to it. You know, all of THAT stuff...
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:40 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
BLE103
Date: 1/2/2001 7:47 am CDT
He is right on interest rates being below 10%.Do you want to know why?Well it is simple.The true cost of borrowing is only 6%!that's right it is only 6%!Why does creditor's charge much higher rates then this that a person may ask?It is spelled out in four letters RISK!.This is where credit scoring comes in at.Having a higher credit score is very important for anyone to get the best interest rates on any loans including credit cards.Now to answer your question on how a person qualifies for the lowest interest rate on a credit card.1.Having a good credit score is like having atleast 700 points or more.2.Having a very low debt load like 20% of income or 15% of net pay.Carrying high credit card debt isn't good because many lenders look at credit card debt as bad debt.Why?Because these are typicially unsecured loans,and they fear that 1 day a person may be unable to pay what they owe.3.Having a good income is a must,and having assets would help lock in lower rates on credit cards.It looks like you may have trouble on getting your rates low becuase chances are you may be maxed out on your cards therefore this is very negative for any new ccc.The best suggestion that i can make is for you to paydown on your balances as much as possible then after 6 to 12 months of paying down call your creditor's,and ask them to lower your rates some will,and some won't.Also use balance transfers if you are able to because this is the main ingredient on getting out of credit card debt.The only way that you can do balance transfers is to have some availible credit to work with,and so forth.If you are unable to do this then you will have to wait until you get your balances down so that you can qualify for new credit card accounts to use for balance transfers only.Hope this may be of some kind of help to you.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
archive
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:41 pm
Post subject: How to Find the Best Credit Card Interest Rates
Linda in VA
Date: 1/2/2001 9:10 am CDT
Sometimes, in a case like this, it might be worth borrowing from yourself - for instance, if you have whole life insurance, you may be able to borrow against the cash value, or you might consider borrowing from your 401K. Often the interest rates you pay on these loans is much lower than what you are paying on your credit card, so you will come out ahead.
If you have access to either of these, let me know. I am an insurance agent, and I can tell you the pro's and cons, and how to go about it.
CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!
posted by CardRatings.com at 10:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home