Store and Credit Cards

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Money Saving Tips

1. Take time to review your Christmas spending, especially on store cards and credit cards. These types of purchasing cards are, for the most part, by far the most expensive form of finance available, but in many cases, also the most handy method of paying for goods and services. If, for any reason, you have ran up a balance on one or more cards, sensible management of the borrowing is the key to making your life easier in the months to come.

Rather than making several small payments to different cards, (some of which may be requiring payment at different times in the month), you may find it more manageable to transfer the various balances onto one card, preferably the one with the lowest APR. It may even be the time to apply for a new card, ideally one offering an introductory rate of 0% APR for a limited period.

This gives you more time to pay off your Christmas excesses as painlessly as possible, as you minimise the interest. Making one payment instead of several also removes the risk of expensive charges levied on forgotten payments, which can often be caused by debt spread over many cards.

If your total borrowing exceeds any possible single card limit, making this an unrealistic plan, it may be that finance in the form of a consolidation loan is the answer, as again, this tends to be the cheaper and more manageable option overall. If you are keen to look into this, you may also wish to add in any overdraft borrowing accrued over Christmas.

Finally, find out how much you spent in total this Christmas as this knowledge may enable you to plan more effectively for next year.

 

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