Once you start using a credit card, you allow yourself to be in bound by there terms. Your freedom will only be declared once you have the money to pay off your outstanding balance. For most people, this is impossible with all the other expenses they have to prioritize.
Credit card companies have done the Math and they are assured of generating profit for every honest and prompt-paying credit cardholder. They still earn from the late payers so you may think that there is nothing you can do to outsmart them when it comes to figures.
Actually, there are still things you can do to make it happen.
Most credit card companies’ offer waived annual membership fee for one year from the date of issuance or from the date of activation. If you can manage to maintain an outstanding balance which is easy for you to pay in full before the renewal of your credit card comes. If you don’t want to pay the membership fee, you can call the Customer Service Department and threaten to cancel. If you are lucky, the Customer Service Representative will reverse the annual fee for them not to lose a valued cardholder (granting that you have a satisfactory credit history). If you are not, make sure to have the money to clear your account. You can jump from one credit card company to another.
For revolvers, bearing the hefty finance charges every month is really a burden. If you have a good credit standing with your present card company, you have a big chance of being approved for a balance transfer with other card companies. They usually compete for the lowest balance transfer rate. So, apply for a credit card with free annual membership fee with the balance transfer facility. Once you have the new credit card, transfer your balance from the old one to this. Having to pay your balance in installment at a fixed rate is better than paying the confusing finance charge every month.
The best way to avoid incurring finance charges is to pay your outstanding balance in full all the time. If you are a consistent full-payer and you incurred the finance charge for failing to pay in full once, call the Customer Service and request for a waiver of charges. They are usually generous in granting waiver requests to prompt full-payers (especially to those with big credit limits).
These are just some of the acceptable things to manage your credit card. Be smart about your use.
