My New Credit Card

Borrowing money is a necessity for many people and credit cards are one of the most convenient ways to help you manage your money.

However, while there is no denying that life would be much harder without your flexible friend, there are also a number of traps that consumers fall into that can increase the amount they end up having to repay.

1. Failing to shop around. There are so many cards on the market now but most people do not take time to find the lender that offers the best deal for their circumstances. Comparison sites such as Money Supermarket mean it has never been easier to find out what is available. There really is no excuse for just grabbing the first card you see.

2. Being seduced by offers. The credit card which promises 0% interest may be tempting but before you sign on the dotted line, take a good look at the small print. There could be extra charges for balance transfers and the ‘normal’ interest rate once the introductory period expires might be far higher than you are paying now.

3. Deciding to apply because of the special offers. Many lenders offer additional benefits such as points schemes or cash-back which are designed to persuade consumers to choose their card. However, while you might be delighted with what’s on offer, check the terms and conditions first or else you may end up paying over the odds just for a few freebies.

4. Having too many cards. Having a new credit card ‘just in case’ might sound like a great idea but it can actually reduce your credit score, even if you haven’t used it. Lenders look at how much credit you can access and having lots of cards available to you will reduce the amount of finance you will be offered if you are trying to get a loan or a mortgage.

5. Missing payments or paying less than the minimum is a terrible idea. Not only will you get slapped with substantial charges from your credit-card provider, but a negative entry will also go on your credit record, meaning you could either get charged more to borrow money in the future or even be declined.

6. Feeling compelled to spend. Having plenty of free credit on your card can seem like an invitation to spend money. However, reminding yourself that it isn’t ‘your’ money and not carrying your credit card around all the time can help to reduce impulse buys.

Credit cards get a terrible press and are often blamed for causing debt. However, if they are used carefully and in the right way, they can actually help you to organise your finances better. By taking care to avoid common mistakes you can learn how to make your credit cards work for you.

It can sometimes be very difficult to get bank loans when you have bad credit history. Bad credit history can be understood to be a negative financial reputation: wherever you go it follows you and try as you might, you can’t shake it off. Usually most banks pefer to stay away from people with bad credit. Those who are willing to brave the perils do so by levying astronomically high interest rates.

While these traditional responses to bad credit history are still the most popular ones, the times are changing and it has become easier to get loans from banks, despite a less than flattering credit reputation.

One of the time tested tricks of getting a loan with bad credit is to use collateral. There is a certain risk involved in using your valuable assets as collateral, but if you are able to give back what you owe, this can also help improve your credit ratings. Thus, on the whole, you stand to gain much more than you stand to lose.

If you want to, you can try going to a credit union instead of a bank. T Full Post…

People trying to improve their credit score can be confused by the vast amount of information from companies trying to sell services and/or products to improve a consumer’s credit. Fortunately, there are many ways for a person to improve his or her credit score without paying a lot of money. In fact, some of the best ways to improve a credit score cost nothing at all.

Credit scores are based on a number of factors, and the exact formulas used to compute the scores are considered to be proprietary information by the companies that create credit reports. In general, however, it is believed by financial analysts that the amount of credit a person has extended to them makes up a significant part of the score. The ratio of how much a person owes to how much credit has been extended to them is also a major factor in a consumer’s credit score.

Because of this, many people have discovered that an easy way to improve their credit score is to open a new credit card account. Whe Full Post…

A lot of us do not have even an idea on how much money we have in our Employee Providend fund account (EPF) . So in this post we will see how one can check his EPF balance online and get the details back through sms . Earlier I used to search a lot on checking EPF balance online and I came across some links , but most of them never worked. But few months back I successfully got sms with my EPF balance. Let me show you that.

• Go to this EPFO website link
• There will be a link below the page to check your status online , click on that (direct link)
• You will see a drop down there to select the PF Office State ( like Maharashtra, Karnataka , Delhi etc) . Select your PF office .
• Once you select the State , you will see a list of different cities office, like for Karnataka , you can see one of the options as Bangalore along with the data available upto date , so you can get your EPF balance till that date only .
• Choose the city office
• You will be taken to the page where you will have to fill in EPF account number , Your Name and mobile number and Submit.

For an example lets say Manish Chauhan worked in Bangalore and had a  EPF account with number KN/62345/876 . T

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