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Research: Using credit cards the right way - Credit-Land.com

Credit cards are not always evil and there are many credit card customers who have been able to reap rich benefits by using credit cards in the proper manner. There are certain strategies which card holders should follow to ensure that they get the right benefits from the card.

Never get into debt

This is one of the best credit card debts that people can get into. If you pay off your outstanding balance consistently, before the last date of bill payment, you will never have to worry about the interest rates, which are usually high on credit cards. The more you do it, the more your credit rating will improve too, so that you will be offered credit cards with better rewards. Most importantly, you are able to use your card as a loan mechanism without any interests at all which is highly profitable. But you also need to ensure that you only charge your card when you are confident of paying off the debt.

Don't shop to avail rewards

A lot of credit card customers become greedy and charge their card just to avail discounts on the cards which are valid for a minimum amount of spending. Shopping without necessity will always lead you to outstanding balances that you cannot pay off at the end of the month. Outstanding balances which are not paid off at the end of the month will incur interests along with the late payment fees which will add to the debt.

Always be aware of the fine print

Whenever you are taking a new credit card it is a very good idea to go through all the fine print, to ensure that you know the rules and regulations well. This might include limitations to your rewards, special conditions pertaining to either discounts you get or interest rates charged on your card and most importantly the conditions under which you will incur penalties. All these terms are designed by card issuers to confuse and exploit the customers, so you will have to be careful.

Set up auto payments

It is a very good habit to set up auto payment of the debt every month from your checking account. That way you will be sure not to miss the billing date accidentally. You must remember that most credit card issuers take the bill date very specifically including the time. So you must try to avoid late penalties or interest rate hikes while you can manage it.