Finance and Credit
What Are Credit Card Alternatives?
Credit cards may be convenient, but they are also very costly. You can get the convenience of a credit card without the high costs as long as you keep in mind these alternatives. Keep reading to learn about these alternatives.
Using Debit Cards Debit cards have taken America by storm. Just like credit card without the high interest fees they are extremely convenient. Instead of using an unsecured loan provided by a credit card company, debit cards are credit cards that use your bank account. Debit cards are extremely easy to use, are usually accepted everywhere a normal credit card is accepted and does not charge any interest for purchases.
The beauty of debit cards is that they use your checking account making it easy to refill your balance. Many credit cards come with online banking making it easy to keep tabs on your balance and easy to transfer money from another account to refill your checking account. Debit cards usually are very economical and cost nothing at the point of purchase to use. A monthly or yearly fee is charged by some banks but these fees are typically low and cost effective unlike the high credit card interest fees.
Paypal for Online Purchases Instead of using a credit card, people who shop online can use other payment options such as Paypal. To make purchases online, Paypal uses your bank account or even debit card so it is very secure. Giving your credit card number to a merchant is no longer necessary because securely held on Paypal’s network is your bank account or credit card number. You never have to transfer bank or card information to unknown merchants because Paypal pays the merchant directly. Also, consumers can use Paypal for free.
What are Gift Cards? Instead of using a credit card, you can also use gift cards to make purchases. At practically all locations that accept Visa and American Express credit cards, you can also use Visa and American Express gift cards. When it comes to these prepaid gift cards, you pay for a specific amount on the gift card upfront. Because of this, it’s not necessary to pa for any interest fees later on. Mostly used for holiday gift giving are gift cards but now, to teach their kids how to use credit cards wisely, many parents are using gift cards as tools.
With so many other alternatives, your high interest credit cards and the debt they can cause can be a thing of the past.
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Reducing Credit Card Debt
To put it simply, reducing credit card debt is as easy as preventing it from increasing and by paying off what it is currently. In reality, if it was that simple to reduce credit card debt, then we wouldn’t have so many people with credit card debt related problems. We would have been able to reduce credit card debt problems and finally eliminate them (or reduce them significantly).
Taking stock of your situation is the first step. When you’ve drawn up a schedule of all your credit cards, list the balance of each, APR, payment due date, other remarks, and reward points earned. You need to find out which card contributes the most to your debt and this will be the card with the highest balance and APR.
Check the reward points scheme and see if they can be used to make partial payments, cover fees or be used to purchase items that you might have used the credit card to purchase.
There are ways to reduce credit card debt and consolidation loans is one of them. A balance transfer could help reduce your debt as well. This means transferring your credit card debt to the card that has the lowest APR. The best way to reduce your debt is curbing spending on the cards while repaying the debt you already built up.
Hard earned cash is harder to get out of the pocket which is why another preventive measure to reduce credit card debt is using cash instead of card. By not adding more to your debt, you reduce your credit card debt. Finding additional sources of income can help you repay debts quicker, saving you money in terms of interest and other fees.
To control spending on your credit card, you may need considerable amount of self-discipline since we’re used to using the card when we shop. One drastic solution is to cut up all but one card which should be kept for emergencies only. After you’ve paid the bills, you can only use available cash and you won’t be able to use your cards.
Credit card debt can be reduced a little a time, much like the way you built it up. Our credit card debt spiral over a considerable period of time and this is something most of us have seen. Reduce the debt with one payment at a time, and with a bit of discipline and patience, you will reduce if not eliminate your debt completely.
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