Bad Credit Card Debts: How to Avoid Common Pitfalls

How can you avoid getting into trouble with bad credit card debt? You can begin by avoiding the following mistakes people with credit cards make:

1. Failure to Read the Smaller Print:

Providers of credit cards might tell you that the reason the Terms & Conditions are printed in small text is that they do not like to bore you with all the details, however that is where they disguise the true cost of whatever you are signing up to.

As the consumer, it is your responsibility to check everything and see to it that there aren’t any traps that you could easily trigger. If the text on the form is too small for you to read, call your card issuer.

2. Misconception on the Introductory Offers:

It is easy to give in to an inviting headline. The people who write such headlines are paid to make them as alluring as possible. Usually, when users of credit cards pay too much attention to the pros of a credit card, they tend to miss checking the details, where the drawbacks are often hidden.

For example, if credit card offer says six months interest free balance transfer, look out for interest rate and transfer fee after the interest free period ends. In additions often included in the smaller print are conditions like, if you miss a payment, whatever is left on the offer will be withdrawn.

3. Making Only the Minimum Payment:

Servicing the debt with ease is one of the advantages of using a credit card — you just have to pay the minimum percentage of your balance for each month ( 4%).

Paying just the required minimum each month will actually cost you more. This is because interest is calculated by the day. For each day that you have a balance, you are being charged on interest for each penny.

4. Having a lot of Credit Cards:

It’s commonly believed that having many cards will help their credit rating. This might be true based on the balance you maintain on your credit card.

The downfall is that it will make it more difficult to obtain new credit. Lenders will wonder whether you already have too much debt and may not be able to repay. Another negative aspect is that it increases the chances of getting deeper into debt.

For more free legal advice on finance, credit, and banking, check out Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA) Inc by clicking on the given link.