Credit Cards... (alieliza)

alieliza

Anyone have any advice??

Call ANY credit card company. They'll be more than happy to give you as many as you want. They LOVE people who are looking for credit cards. But people who already have charges on 3 credit cards and are looking for more are typically the ones who end up in credit card debt over their heads.

Alternatively, (and this is my advice) don't apply for another one and cut up two of the ones you already have.

Sorry, I'm sure that's not what you want to hear, but credit cards are the biggest rip-off going. You are going to pay SO much more than you would if you just saved up ahead of time and paid cash. 

Just as an example... If you owe $5000 on a credit card at 21% interest and you pay $100 every month, it will take you 119 months to pay that off and that means you spent $11,900 for $5000 worth of stuff. Credit Card Calculator

Hey I could forward you one of the THREE CC offers I get on a DAILY basis, lol!

I did not take a CC to Africa; I took cash, but we had people helping us that kept our money safe and changed currency for us so that was a major help.  Also, I paid a little extra for insurance that would cover me if something happened AND pay to have me sent home.  I don't think having a CC or two for an emergency is a bad idea though. 

For this situation, I would call each of the ones you have and ask for a credit line increase -- most are willing to review you once or twice a year, so as long as you've had a good past with them, many will increase you.  Even if it's a few hundred dollars per card it might be enough so you dont need another one. 

Otherwise, I have good credit cards with Bank of America and Capital One, and one good one with Chase but one bad one with Chase that is really a Circuit City Visa (long story, but I keep the card since it has an uber high limit but I would rather die than ever use it again, its just not worth cancelling it and having it possibly hurt me).  DH has a good one with Citibank as well.

I certainly don't agree with never using credit cards, but using them wisely -- we never hold a balance so it doesn't me anything -- but in case of the trip it's probably safer to use cc than cas.  If not cc then traveler's checks. 

ALSO-- one of our cc charges a fee (as a percent of the amt spent) if it involves a foreign currency -- so do ask about that!!  It was only like 2% fee or something, but it wasn't cool to find out by accident when we bought something from Canada.  It would really add up over a month's purchases.

NicoleS

I certainly don't agree with never using credit cards,

Oops! I didn't mean to imply that I don't think they should ever be used. Sorry if it came across that way. We use them all the time for internet and large purchases. My husband and I each have one we use. We just pay them off every month, so it costs us nothing.

And if the OP is going to use them, calling the existing ones and asking for a raise in credit is another good idea. I did that once.

FourIsCompany

NicoleS

I certainly don't agree with never using credit cards,

 

Oops! I didn't mean to imply that I don't think they should ever be used.

Sorry, wasn't really saying that back at you!  Just that the economy is so bad and many people come to rely on cc too much and that's how they get into trouble, so you read and hear that cc are the devil and causing all this trouble.  Not really, but it takes some research and self control to not get into trouble.  I actually like using them since they offer some protection if the merchant doesn't come through, etc.

I overheard this conversation on the bus one day, about how you have to hold a balance on a cc in order to raise your credit score, that banks will only raise it when they make money off of you.  It took everything I had not to interrupt and correct them -- we have a terrific credit score for being only 23 (22 for DH), and we've never held a balance.  You don't need to pay them to increase your credit score!  It was two guys, older than me, wearing clothes worth as much as I make in a week, so obviously the interest payments wouldn't kill them, but seriously they didn't understand.  Your credit score is based on paying your bills on time, not how much interest you are paying the bank!

I personally like having at least 1 mastercard and 1 visa, not so much any more but in the past I've seen places only accept one or the other.  Mostly it's in places like Costco, etc now though.

You've gotten good advice so far, but I went to bankrate.com, searched through their credit card offers, found a really good one, applied, and got it. And it wasn't really comparable to the offers I was getting in the mail either. I get offers a lot for you know, 23% interest, $300 limit, account opening fees, annual fees, you know..really crappy cards (I wish these people would GET REAL! You'd think they'd check out my credit profile, and see what cards I already have, before wasting paper). But the one I found through bankrate is 0% interest for 12 months (on purchases and balance transfers..not cash advances), and 12.9% interest after that, and a pretty darn high limit. Not too shabby.

 if you are going to get a new one, check out this site... http://www.cardratings.com/

 it will help you determine which may be the best card for your particular situation and how to apply for it.
 

NicoleS

  Your credit score is based on paying your bills on time, not how much interest you are paying the bank!

True!  And another thing they look at is how much available credit you have.  If you have a card with a $5K limit, it looks a lot better if that $5K is available for your use than it does for you to be owing that much to the bank. I think a lot of people get into trouble because they (like my oldest DS) never learned to tell the difference between "needs" and "wants."  If your refrigerator or hot water heater goes out, you need to replace it ASAP, even if it means pulling out a credit card.  You might really, really want a 60" flat screen, but you don't need it.

Joyce