Using the web to find the best ways of reducing credit card debt

There are many sites where you can perform price comparisons, and it's no different with credit cards. One option that many people consider is consolidating their credit card debt, especially if they feel their interest rate on their credit card(s) are too high. You can usually do balance transfers to other credit card companies with lower interest rates. Some even offer a 0% interest rate for up to 16 months. And if you're were paying a 17.69% APR on one credit card, the savings can be significant. You can easily find information on some of the best APR rates of credit cards, from sites like moneysavingexpert.com. And there are plenty of interest rate comparison engines on all the leading credit cards. Of course you will have to go through the usual card application process, so it's worth checking on your credit score before you do to see if it's acceptable for applying for a balance transfer.

If only we could practice what we preach..

So after refraining from months upon months I've had to resort to using the plastic quite a bit. Mainly due to a relocation, and all the associated financial annoyances this comes with it. Turns out the country i'm living in, none of the local banks accept my card, so i have to travel to my cards bank bank branches which are sporadically located across the city. It's not too bad, but it has meant me getting back in the red on it - something i vowed to myself not to do. But my other card's magnetic strip has gone, which means the only card i can use is the credit card. However, all this should stop soon, as i found myself some full time work, and once my visa and work permit get through all right ill be able to set up a local bank account and have less of these hassles.

But it has taught me the importance of practicing what you preach, and also the importance of financial planning -especially when relocating!

Spending less, saving more.

With Christmas coming up this can be a hard ethos to stick to. We all know we should do this, but there's something about this season that makes us want to rush out to the shops and start buying. However, by cutting down on unnecessary expenses in the run up to Christmas you may find you actually have a bit of extra cash to reinvest in buying those Christmas presents. Also, with the economy in the UK not showing much signs of recovery towards the latter part of the year, it could be a while before we see better days. So before buying upgrades to phones, electronic appliances that aren't necessary and any other goods that we don't actually we should instead be thinking about what we can do without and/or if there are any ways we can perhaps recycle or reconvert what we currently use. Thus preventing the need to go out to the shops and buy a brand new product, with expensive packaging, that will in the end cease working or become faulty.
This economic crises, has taught us some valuable lessons about our propensity for consumerism and how we have becoming indoctrinated in the capitalist system which rules all over other forms of ideology.

Too early to starting thinking about the C word?

Well, November has crept upon us rapidly and in not time at all we'll be wrapping up warm and getting in the midst of those Christmas queues frantically trying to get everything off our list checked off. One important question a lot of people will ask themselves, is how to pay for the Christmas shopping this year. When the credit crunch hit us this time last year, a lot of people were forced to restrain from credit card purchases and perhaps reduce the number of presents they had initially planned to buy. And perhaps divert their attentions away from the expensive stores and find some more competitive priced options. But, with many of the credit card companies being forced to tighten up their policies, and stop taking advantage of people who are prone to racking up debts on their credit cards, can we this year perhaps go on a bit of splurge? Well, my advice would be as always to really work out a budget beforehand and try to stick to it. Even with some of the credit cards perhaps reducing interest rates, or them being forced not to be able to increase interest rates once the consumer gets into debt, it's still necessary to be financially prudent in these still economic uncertain times.

There's a number of ways you can shop cheaply, and pay now rather than have to wait to the new year to worry about it. For example, why not auction off your old unwanted junk on ebay or similar sites, you never know what you can get for something you consider worthless. This should give you some spending money for those Christmas presents. Or perhaps organize a yard/jumble sale getting rid of stuff in the actic. Another good way to make some quick cash. These are just a few ways of getting some cash for your shopping, if you're looking to find out what ebay buyers really want this software I use is highly recommended:Auction Yen