Credit Cards

Believe it or not, a credit card is a good thing. It builds credit. That is, as long as you don't use it to go out every night with your friends or buy stuff you don't need. If you do decide to get a credit card there are two important things to know before you chose a credit card company:

  • Interest: : It's essentially to know how much you're going to charged by the credit card company to borrow money from them. The credit card company looks at how much you've charged to your card and then multiplies that by the interest rate. The secret of credit card interest is to find the card with the lowest possible fixed rate. What does that mean? Well...
  • Interest rates go up and down depending on many different factors. If you have a variable interest rate, your credit card company could offer you a 9% rate when you apply, then change it to 18% in two months. If you have a fixed rate, then they can't. Also, don't fall for the whole introductory rate scam: this means that you'll have a nice, safe rate for the first year, and then the company will jack up the rate to some ridiculous number. A reasonable interest rate is anywhere between 5 and 11%.
  • Balance: It's the amount of money that you've charged on your credit card, plus any applicable finance charges (interest). The best plan is to only charge what you can afford to pay in full that month. If an unexpected expense arises, and you can't pay the balance in full, you need to pay the maximum amount you can afford without taking too much money away from your other expenses.
Apply Now

Credit Card

This will calculate how many months it will take to pay off your credit card balance, and the amount of interest you will have paid during that time.
Current Balance:
Amount Charged Per Month:
Interest Rate (APR):
Monthly Payment:
 
 

Pay Off Balance

This will calculate how much you have to pay every month to eliminate your credit card balance in a certain amount of time.
Current Balance:
Amount Charged Per Month:
Interest Rate (APR):
Months to Pay Off Balance: