0% Credit Cards in the UK
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Brand
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How
Many Credit Cards Do People Have? |
A recent survey showed that most people carry between five and ten credit cards. Some people have as many as 50! The rule of thumb, say some financial experts, is to have two to 6 credit cards. The fewer the better, although you do need to have some to keep up a good credit score. Too many, though, and you will lose credit points. What is the right number of cards to have? How many credit cards you should have is a very personal number. It depends on how much you make, how much you owe, and how able you are to pay back the debt. You should always try to stay as close to zero balance as possible each month. You can use your credit cards for purchases; just remember that you need to pay off the balance before the interest charges start to accrue. Make sure you read the find print of your credit card terms to see when interest starts to accrue and how much the actual APR (annual percentage rate) is. You should 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. 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 will end up hurting
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 L5000 on a credit card,
you should have a balance of no more than L2500 at any given time.
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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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