0% Credit Cards in the UK
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Brand
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Is
having lots of credit a good idea? |
Having some credit is necessary. Having lots of credit is not a good idea. Everyone needs at least one credit card to help establish good credit and to have for emergencies. Some people think that the more credit cards they have the better. This is simply not true. You are most likely going to hurt, rather than help, your credit score with each additional card. The credit scores take into consideration how much credit is allowed and how much of that credit is used. They see how long you carry a balance. Paying the balance down monthly gives good credit points. Keeping a high balance on one or more cards makes your score go down. Having credit cards that you don’t use also hurts your credit score. A general rule of thumb is to carry a balance not more than 50% of your total available credit. For example, if you have a credit limit of £5000 on a credit card, you should have a balance of no more than £2500 at any given time. Financial advisors suggest that you try to keep your store credit cards down to one or two at the most. Each time you open a store charge card you lose about 20 points off your credit score. If you must have a department store card, choose wisely. Many stores have special offers and coupons limited to their credit card users as an incentive to keep their card. In
order to keep up a good credit rating, keep one major card that you can
charge one or two purchases per month on.
Then pay off the entire balance by the end of the month. If you
have had financial problems in the past, then chose one major credit card
and save it for emergency use only. Cut up all your other credit cards, even if they are still
valid. That way you won’t
be tempted to charge anything else on them and can concentrate instead
on paying them off. When
you pay your credit card bills, try to pay more than the minimum balance. By paying only the minimum due, you will spend years paying
off your credit card debt, as each month finance charges are added. Work
with a budget, set aside a certain amount for credit card payment each
month and stick to it. Paying
down the balance will slowly decrease your debt and get you back into
financial shape.
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Kinds of Cards |
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Copyright 2008 0% Credit Cards UK Guide Articles
By Kate Spencer. All rights reserved |
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