Using your credit cards wisely
14 October 2008
Due to the recent credit crunch, many people are uncertain about their financial future. It doesn't help that many families were already feeling the financial pinch before this. Many claim that using credit cards during times of financial stress is a bad idea. This is not always true.
If used selectively and managed carefully, credit cards can be an extremely useful tool. Using credit cards is a privilege - your bank is trusting you with their money and expecting you to repay it. If you abuse this, you will be in a world of trouble and have a negative mark in your credit file which can lead to troubles with financing later on.
Managing credit cards is not necessarily difficult. One way of doing this is making use of a low rate credit card that comes with an interest free period. Many credit cards come with interest free periods of up to 55 days. If you are able to pay off your purchase within this time, you won't be charged any interest. This can be quite useful if you need items in a hurry, but don't have the money in your everyday bank account. When you have the money, you can repay it quickly within the interest free period.
If you're interested in no interest credit cards, take a look at our top credit cards to see how many interest free days our top credit cards come with.
If you don't intend on using your credit card on a regular basis, you might be better off with no annual fee credit cards. These credit cards have no annual fees, but they can have higher interest rates. However, these credit cards usually come with interest free periods, so if you can your purchase off quickly, you'll be able to save money.
Our credit card comparison page shows what the annual fees are for many credit cards
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