Reckless spending and poor money habits usually cause credit card debt. If you are facing this problem now, you are not alone. Here are some ways that you can cope with credit card debt.

1. Take stock of your debt sources and amount

If you have debts from multiple credit cards, then get a piece of paper and note down the details. Tabulate them with column headers such as Card Name, Total Outstanding Balance, Minimum Payment, Due Date, APR, Credit Card Company Hotline and any other information you deemed necessary.

This gives you a clear picture of where you are right now at a glance.

2. Identify you income source

Get another piece of paper and put down your sources of income. Your main source will be likely from your job. If you have a spouse that can help you, put that down too. Include your second jobs or any other sources of income you have available right now.

3. Review Monthly Expenses and Cut Costs

Now you have to review your monthly expenses, which include basic necessities such as food, housing, clothes, health-related costs, insurance bill and any other expenses that you cannot eliminate.

The key here is necessities. Activities such as going to movies and having dinner at a posh restaurant are not necessities. If you do not what you have spent, check your credit card statements.

Once you identify your basic expenses, any other expenses that are deem unnecessary and should be eliminated as soon as possible.

4. Contact And Negotiate With Your Creditors

Don’t hide from your creditors. Hiding will not solve your problem and is absolutely irresponsible on your part. Contact your creditors and explain to them your situations. Propose to them what you have in mind to do the repayment on your terms. Do include requests to reduce interest rate and waiver of any late payment fees.

Creditors want their money back and if you are sincere and your proposal is reasonable, they will likely accept it. This means you should not ask for unreasonable request like total write-off of your debt. Show your sincerity in making the repayment and they will likely reciprocate by granting your request.

5. Get Help From Credit Counseling Groups

You can also consider enlisting the help of credit counseling groups or institutions. They can help you get an improved payment arrangement of your debt with your creditors. One such place is the Credit Counseling Centers of America.

6. Explore new revenue sources

Once you get your debt repayment plan underway, it is time to explore other revenue sources. Consider getting a second part time job such as giving tuition to your neighbor’s kids, mow their lawns and so son. Starting an online business is also a viable choice.

Take an inventory of the stuffs that you are not using right now. These include spare television sets, watches, cameras, books, DVDs and so on. Auction them off on eBay or hold garage sales.

You should also consider changing your car to a smaller one, sell that 50-inch LCD TV and settle for a 21-inch version, downgrade your broadband subscription plan, change your cell phone plan to a basic one and so on.

Having credit card debts is not the end of the world. You create it and that means you can fix it. Be optimistic and responsible. As long as you continue to take action to reduce your debt, you will be debt free sooner than later.

Popularity: 86% [?]

For many, improving credit is an important step towards a chance at some of the most important aspects of everyday life. Good credit is vital if you want to own a good car, a good house, or any other major purchase. Like millions of people in America, you might have a few issues with your credit report; here are a few hot tips that can lead to improvement:

Step One: One of the best things you can do in your efforts to improve your credit is to learn your rights. Laws protect you as a consumer, and thus your credit score as well. You need to be familiar with those laws and your rights to improve that score. Policies of all sorts are in place that regulate everything from criteria regarding rejection to the ways a collection agency is allowed to go after late payments. If you’re unaware of your rights, you’ll find it difficult to insist on the proper steps that are in place to help you. Confusion is the enemy.

Step Two: The three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) are required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once a year, at your request.

Step Three: Once you have the credit report in-hand, go over it in miniscule detail. File a report for each and every negative item immediately. Any negative item must be investigated by the bureau: if they don’t verify it within 30 to 45 days, the item must be removed! There are many reasons creditors refuse to verify information, which is great news for anyone trying to improve their credit. Better still, file your disputes when the credit business is busiest to help ensure there’s less chance of verification.

Step Four: For certainty’s sake, send every dispute form by certified mail (which only costs a few dollars extra) and request return-receipt. Make sure your records are extremely detailed, covering dates, times, names, every single minor step along the way. You want this process to be rife with delays and it will only help if you can make yourself as difficult as possible for them to deal with. Just one person failing in the verification-chain on their end, that’s all it will take to get the negative mark cleared off your record.

Step Five: 30 to 45 days after you’ve sent in your dispute, get another copy of your report. Pay for it this time if you have to! Review it from top to bottom and start making phone calls about why unverified information hasn’t been removed; it had plenty of time, after all. Dispute anything that remains, over and over and over again, until they get tired of dealing with you. Don’t give up, because the reward for your persistence is an improved credit score!

In truth, it isn’t difficult to improve your credit score, not really. It’s as easy as getting your report, disputing everything negative, and repeating those steps until you get the results you want. Pay attention to every little detail and keep strict records, and you’ll be well on your way to the better score that you want.

Popularity: 89% [?]

Many people in the UK have more than one credit card, and in some cases people decide to use one of their credit cards for regular use and another for emergencies only.

However, it is important to remember that having a credit card account that lies mainly dormant can actually be something of a risk, and could result in you being charged unnecessary fees by the credit card providers or even becoming a victim of credit card fraud.

Whilst some people think that having a credit card for emergencies only is a good idea, credit card companies tend to take a dim view of this. Why? Because they have to still deal with the administration of the account even though the customer is not really using the account. As a result of this some providers have started applying fees on accounts that are rarely or never used.

However, this is not the main problem for people that do not use their credit card accounts very often. The main risk is becoming the victim of credit card fraud, as many fraudsters target dormant credit card account, safe in the knowledge that the fraudulent activity probably won’t be picked up for some time because of the fact that the account is rarely used.

Some people even think that if they cut up the credit card on a dormant account this will stop them from becoming victims of identity theft and credit card fraud. However, much of the fraud carried out using credit cards is CNP or Card Not Present fraud, where the fraudster does not need to actually have possession of your credit card in order to conduct fraudulent activity. You actually need to close the account altogether in order to stop the risk of becoming a victim of fraud.

Industry officials recommend that those with a credit card that is not used very often try to use the card at least once per month in order to keep it active. This can help to ensure that you are not charged for nothing by the credit card firm. However, more importantly it will ensure that you receive a statement from the credit card firm each month, which you can then check to ensure that no suspicious activity has been carried out using your card.

It’s also important to know the level of credit card security your issuer offers you, from fraud guarantees to active fraud monitoring and even identity theft protection services.

It can also help to use free credit report services, such as Experian or Equifax. For a small monthly fee (usually less than £10) they will monitor your entire credit file and alert you to any changes such as newly opened accounts, closed accounts, address changes and more. These services can help to prevent credit card fraud and identity theft

Popularity: 51% [?]

So what is all this fuss about the credit score? What makes up your credit score anyways?

Payment history makes up 35% of your score. The amount you owe is 30% of your score. Your credit history is 15% of your score and applications for new credit in your record accounts for 10% of your score. While most people have at least some working knowledge about credit scores, there are many myths circulating regarding credit scores. Here are some of the most common ones:

1. You have only one credit score.
In fact, there are at least 6 primary ones for consumers – even more for businesses. The primary driving force is the Fair Isaac Corp., or FICO. There are three main agencies. Equiflex whose score is called Beacon; TransUnion is called FICO Risk Score; and Experian’s is called FICO II. They each have their own formula, but the scores should come within 20 points of each other.

2. If you close some of your credit cards you improve your score.
If you close a card you have had for a long time, you could actually lower your score. The reason being, the best scores go to people who use cards moderately, over a long period of time. Credit score agencies place a lot of emphasis on what is called the “utilization ratio.” This is your total debt as a percentage of all your available credit. When you close a card, you actually lower your available credit, therefore, lowering the Utilization Ratio. Going into foreclosure will most definitely lower your score below the desirable rate for your financial future and any future loan you may wish to acquire.

3. Shopping for the best credit rates can hurt your score.
If you shop for rates for a loan over a shorter period of time, say 2 weeks, they are most likely to clump those requests together. If you extend if over a long period of time they are likely to count the requests as more than one so be wise and timely. Checking your own credit score will not lower your credit. Asking a friend from a financial institution to check it for you will.

4. Paying off your credit cards in full every month gets you a better score.
It is good to show payment history from time to time, but make sure those payments are on time. Understanding the importance of your credit score will help you realize how important it is to avoid the things that can strongly impact your credit score like bankruptcy and foreclosure. Avoid it and you can protect your financial future.

Popularity: 52% [?]

You only have to open the mail, turn on the TV or read the paper to see a whole range of credit card offers. How do you know what you need to be looking for and make a fair comparison to find the best card? Find out what all the terms mean and how to seperate fact from marketing hype.

Intro APR: This is the introductory interest rate. Check if the rate applies to balance transfers from other cards only or on new purchases as well. Before you apply then make sure you know how long any introductory offers last, what fees apply and what rate will be payable once the offer has ended. To prevent people making too many transfers many credit card companies are now charging a percentage based fee for balance transfers.

Standard APR: This is the interest rate that you will pay on standard purchases. If you know that you will pay your bill in full each month then the interest rate may not be an issue but if you don’t pay your bills in full each month then you should consider a low interest credit card.

Interest Free Period / Grace Period: This is the number of days you get interest free on new purchases. This period is normally described in the form of ‘up to’ a number of days, for example,’up to 55 days’. The reason it says ‘up to’ is because they show the maximum number of days you can get interest free. The number of days will relate to the first day of your billing cycle through to the date your statement is due. Therefore if you purchase something near the end of your billing month you may get far less time interest free. There are a few cards with no interest free periods. Avoid these cards like the plague as you will already be paying interest by the time your monthly bill arrives.

Cash Advance Rate: Credit cards offer the convenience of accessing cash through a cash advance. However, this convenience often comes at a high cost with many card issuers charging extra high interest rates on cash advances. In addition there may be an ATM fee of several dollars and interest is normally payable from the day you withdraw the cash. Unless you have a card designed for low cost cash advances they are best left for emergencies only.

Annual Fee: Many cards now charge no annual fee but if you want more rewards or benefits then an annual card fee may apply. Make sure you are aware of any annual fees before you apply and do a rough estimate to work out if the value of rewards or interest saved will outweigh the cost of the annual fee.

Rewards: Rewards credit cards are becoming increasing popular and rewards come in many different forms such as points for a gift catalogue or frequent flyer points through to cash-back on your monthly bill. If you put much of your spending through a credit card then you can make a good return from rewards but be careful to avoid the debt trap. It is not worth spending extra just to get extra rewards as the rewards are normally worth around one percent of what you spend. Also, you will be paying interest every month if you don’t pay your bill in full and on time each month. If this sounds like you then you could benefit the most from a low rate credit card and do without the rewards. You will probably find the money saved in interest will be far more than the value of any rewards you could have earned.

Credit Required: Think about the credit rating of the cards you apply for. Premium cards such as Gold and Platinum for example are aimed at high income earners. If you’re on a low income and apply for such a card you will almost certainly get rejected and your credit rating will be damaged further.

Now you know what you are comparing you can make an informed credit card comparison and find the best credit card for your needs.

Popularity: 57% [?]