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Getting the Most Out of Interest Free Credit Cards

Admin JHS — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:55:47 +0000

Interest free credit cards offer an excellent way to reduce the amount of interest you pay each month on your outstanding debts. However, if you do it the right way, a good interest free credit card can also be very helpful for debt reduction plans.

Unfortunately, if you’re not careful with these types of cards, you could also find you end up in more debt than you expect. Banks can be quite crafty with the way they word their offers. Always make sure you understand exactly what you’re getting into and then stick to your plan. You’ll save plenty of money this way.

Here are some ways you can get the most out of interest free credit cards.

Interest Free Purchases

0% purchase credit cards sound like the ideal solution. You get to charge your purchases on plastic and not have to worry about exorbitant interest charges adding onto your original debt balance.

Yet, not all credit cards offering a zero per cent deal work in exactly the same way. In order to really see zero interest charges on the things you’ve purchased with your card, you need to double check that your card offers 0% on purchases made, and not just offering no interest on balance transfers.

Check the Introductory Term

Many interest free credit cards only offer the 0% interest option for an introductory term. Always check exactly how long you have to benefit from paying no interest on your credit card debt before you proceed.

Some credit card providers only offer interest free purchases for three months. This means you might purchase something on the 1st of January and have until the 1st of April to repay that purchase amount without any interest being charged. If you don’t repay that amount, interest will begin to accrue on your outstanding balance.

Other providers may offer introductory terms on balance transfers that extend for a far longer term. Always check which suits your own financial situation.

Check the Rate after Expire

Once your introductory interest free term has ended, your credit card provider will begin charging interest on any remaining balance you haven’t paid off. If the rate reverts to a very high interest rate after your interest free period ends, you could end up paying much more for your purchases than you expect.

Interest Free Balance Transfers

One of the biggest benefits to using an interest free credit card is when you use it to reduce your interest bill on outstanding debts you have on other cards. Paying 0% on your current credit card debts can be an excellent way to reduce your monthly repayments and boost your cash flow. This is especially true if you’re currently paying outrageously high interest rates.

However, it can also be the ideal opportunity to begin working on debt reduction plans properly. You simply transfer your outstanding balance from your high interest cards over to your new interest free balance transfer credit card. Always make sure you really are capable of repaying the amount you transfer before the interest free period expires. You might want to think about a longer zero per cent interest term or maybe even consider transferring less.

Now, take a close look at exactly how much you pay on your current credit card bills every month. Then look at how much of that payment is eaten away by interest charges. Very little of your payment goes towards reducing your debt

Yet, if you paid the same monthly repayment but didn’t have those interest charges eating it away, your debt balance would reduce much faster. As long as you don’t keep adding to your debt, choosing an interest free credit card for a balance transfer over a long term can make it easier to pay off your credit cards once and for all.

Moving from Permanent to Contractor

Admin POK — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:35:30 +0000

The role of contractor has always been sought after. However, in this time of economic and financial crisis – people have not got guaranteed permanent jobs anymore, so heads are turning more towards contractor roles. Contractor roles, simply put, have their advantages: Flexibility and control, financial bonuses, opportunity to develop different skills, possibility of travel or to work from home, scope to work with lots of different employers in private and public sector….the list goes on. With permanent jobs you get the ‘security’ (or what you perceive to be true in this economic climate) held in pension schemes and paid annual leave – but when you make, the what can be scary, leap it will be possible to see benefits in all aspects of your career.

First Step into becoming a Contractor

The first thing you need to do when making the move to contractor is to simply; find a contract. You may not think that there are many contract roles out there due to the current economic climate, but you’d be wrong. Companies are now looking to hire people short term, then support them long term. Important things to do:

Update your CV – Focussing on key skills that help you stand out as a contractor whilst talking about recent employments and achievements within
Target Recruitment agencies that specialise in your chosen field.

Limited and Umbrella

There are two ways to function as a contractor – limited and umbrella. Limited companies are ideal for contracts of 3 months or more and when annual take home money is £25,000 plus. Umbrella companies are basically the opposite – working for people with short term, low value contracts.

Umbrella – take home pay between 60%-65% of your contract value (Not much different to working as a permanent employee).
Limited – take home pay between 75%-80% of your contract value, however there is far more paperwork and legal issues to take note of.

IR35

On finding a new contract, the next step you need to take is to establish your IR35 status. Before signing your contract you need to check whether you fall inside or outside of IR35 legislation – otherwise you may be finding yourself in hot water somewhat. If you find yourself within the legal boundaries of IR35, in simple terms you will take home significantly less money. So, you can see why it would be more sensible to operate through a limited company, if you are inside IR35, claim expenses, reap the rewards from the Flat Rate VAT scheme and ultimately only pay tax on 95% of your contract. Using a specialist contractor accountant can help you with this.

You should always ask around when selecting a contractor accountant, and remember that it is better to find a specific accountant to your field of work. It is essential that you find a contractor just for you, and take your time selecting one – it should not be a rushed haphazard decision. Look for firms that have been established a while and are backed by credible third party claims. It is also possible to see how successful a company is purely on the amount of awards they have accumulated from organisations such as Accountancy Age, National Customer Service and PCG.

Peer to Peer Lending simplified

Admin JHS — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:35:59 +0000

Peer to Peer lending has emerged as a viable alternative to conventional lending by banks. It is certainly proving to be a better way of obtaining personal loans. There are valid reasons for this. Banks borrow small amounts from several account holders and lend them to parties that need finance. Since banks are responsible for such funds, they often exercise more caution than is needed. Consequently, many borrowers may not be able to meet the requirements stipulated by the bank. An example of such criteria is the credit score. Over the years, people have realized that these scores can be manipulated and there are different ways to calculate such scores. Moreover, since the financial components in personal finance keep varying from time to time, the model of credit score calculation that is valid today may not be valid a few months down the lane. Despite such drawbacks associated with credit scores, banks continue to use them.

Another problem in borrowing from bank is the quantum of loan. Below a certain amount, lending becomes non-viable for banks. This is because there are establishment costs, employee costs, due diligence costs, etc., that the bank incurs. Some of these are distributed proportionately on loans, while others are loan specific. The total of such costs have to be recovered from the deal earnings. If the earning from the transaction is not likely to fetch returns that are enough to cover such costs, then the bank chooses to forego such lending even if the borrower is reliable and has a good credit score. This lost opportunity costs the investors quite a bit. Their funds remain idle till another borrower who qualifies in all respects is found. When profits earned on all transactions are averaged for the entire year, these zero profit periods bring them down. Therefore, resultant returns to the investors in the bank are lower because of these idle periods. In peer to peer lending such losses are minimal.

This is because Peer to Peer lending is much more personal. Here, the lender knows the borrower or a group of borrowers, as the case may be. In banks, lenders or investors are represented by the bank. Therefore, they do not know the borrower in person. Internet is one of the reasons for Peer to Peer Lending’s growing popularity. The other reason is the recessionary trend, and lack of liquidity all around. In this scenario, people may need monies for different reasons such as managing their debts, paying their bills, or clearing their credit card dues. Whatever be the reason, the lender is likely to judge them based on personal risk appetite and not a uniform risk appetite. The borrower is also at liberty not to disclose the reason for him or her needing that loan.

Internet has become a big facilitator of peer to peer lending. Both borrowers and lenders can use peer to peer lending sites. There are ample peer to peer lending sites. It is, however, not essential that all peer to peer lending businesses have same business models. Some sites facilitate direct lending, while others have indirect lending mechanism built in them. Direct lending implies the lender selects the person based on his or her requirements. Unlike banks, people from different locations across the world can access the monies or lend monies in peer to peer lending system. Of course, there is credit rating to go by. But the risk is almost entirely in the lender’s court. Lender may choose to distribute the risk over several borrowers whose credit rating is similar. Indirect lending is similar to the system in banks. Almost all costs in peer to peer lending are lower, partly due to Internet. Because of this, borrowers can get finance at a cheaper rate, and lender can still earn returns that are higher than what he or she would earn by investing the monies in bank.

I saved a small fortune on life insurance on the Life Insurance Compare website

The Web Clinic — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:15:58 +0000

I had always expected to become a teacher as both my mother and father had been teachers. It didn’t help by the fact that I had never really contemplated doing anything else and upon leaving school with the appropriate A levels for a teacher degree, I duly started at Teacher Training College. Three years later I was applying for teaching jobs in my home town, as I had never really contemplated working elsewhere. I married my child hood sweetheart and started a family with two lovely children and everything was wonderful. Wonderful apart from the fact that I really didn’t enjoy my work, I loved the teaching side of things, but all the form filling and unnecessary rubbish we had to do to support the vagaries of whatever the government of the day had decided that we should do to teach our children in a slightly better way than we had done the year before. This carried on for years and I grew to despise the job and tried to lose myself at weekends in whatever DIY project I had at the time. I loved the way that no one was there to tell me that I had to do it another way or that I had to fill in a form for someone so that they could produce a piece of analysis that would inevitably be used to tell me that I wasn’t as good as someone else, somewhere, and because of this I would to produce another action plan saying how I would improve, and so on and so on.

Anyway, one morning I decided that I would chuck it all in and become a full time do it yourself man and six years later I haven’t looked back. I have am independent in mind and body, I love my work and I’m probably a better person for it. I have had to become financially literate and now know my income protection policy from my permanent health insurance and my VAT rates from my National Insurance thanks to life insurance compare.

Source: http://lifeinsurancecompare.uk.com/blog/2011/12/14/i-saved-small-fortune-life-insurance-life-insurance-compare-website/

The Web Clinic — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:47:50 +0000

A colleague of mine at work has recently had the news that her partner is about to be made redundant and like so many people her age had been spending virtually all their combined income without saving anything for a rainy day. I suppose they are relatively fortunate that she still has a job and that he’s quite prepared to do anything to bring in some money and believes he can pick up some temporary shift work in a factory but it won’t make up for the shortfall. They were faced with a scenario of having to save a few hundred pounds a month if they were to remain with their heads above water and stay solvent so they have had to sit down and analyse their entire spending to see what could be cut back on, what could be cut out all together and what they needed to prioritise like rent. There were a few quick wins; Sky was cancelled as was gym membership and direct debits to lottery syndicates etc. Charities have been shelved temporarily as have anything that wasn’t vital. She then used the comparison websites to source better deals on the home insurance, car insurance and life insurance, where she found a site called life assurance cover and made the biggest saving. In most cases she was able to save a few pounds to chip away at her shortfall.

Source: http://lifeassurancecover.uk.com/blog/2011/12/13/life-assurance-cover-website-saved-us-most-money/

I spent over 2 hours looking for genuine online mortgage protection quotes, at last I found a genuine site named Mortgage Protection Quotes.uk.com, about time!

The Web Clinic — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:07:02 +0000

I have used the same insurance broker ever since I had my first car and I needed to arrange cover. They always seemed to work very hard trying to get me the most competitive premiums and the process seemed to take an hour or so and I would always walk away with a hand written cover note and a feeling that it was very expensive but I had the best deal I could get. Looking back on those days, the trust I had in the staff in that office was based on nothing other than blind faith combined with the hope that if I thought it sounded absurdly expensive I might try the insurance broker along the road. Although having already taken an hour or more to get the insurance sorted out, the last thing I would want to do is to go through the entire process again and waste my entire day off. These days of course, like virtually everyone, I no longer use an insurance broker. I use the online comparison sites and the rest of the population probably use the telephone. The online process is so advanced these days that, rather than taking half an hour, the time need to obtain a quotation is now down to 10 minutes and every form and cover notes are generated on a PDF file which arrived in your inbox within seconds. Whilst you’re on the website the system provides the facility to obtain other financial products as, from the comparisons site point of view, why stop with car insurance? Within minutes I found a site called mortgage protection quotes comparison I, arranged travel insurance and arrange a hire car to pick you up from the airport. The freedom the system allows is key, as you can access for your self a list of premiums and see for yourself how much cheaper one insurance company is over another.

Source: http://mortgageprotectionquotes.org/blog/2011/12/02/i-spent-over-2-hours-looking-genuine-online-mortgage-protection-quotes-last-i-found-genuine-site-named-mortgage-protection-quotesukcom-about-time/

The 0 APR Credit Card Offers

Admin JHS — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:01:54 +0000

Yea right, nothing in this world is free. To think that you can get something free is only setting yourself up for the big fall. However, the 0 APR credit card offers online is something to consider. You will not find free credit cards, but you will find free promotional 0-Interest APR and transfer rates.

FREE…is the word to make everyone wonder if he or she should click the link or not. We all know that nothing in life is free and we wonder why promotional advertisers hang up the slicks claiming to offer 0 APR credit card offers. Well, perhaps something’s are free.

Nevertheless, when we see 0 APR credit card offers it prompts us to check it out…What they really mean is that they are offering no annual fees, or deposits. You sign up for the card online and wait until the lenders run a credit check and you get your answer. Nothing truly is free.

When you get the card you have to pay certain amounts of interest, however, some cards offer cash back and points to their users, which you can use to reclaim the interest paid on your credit cards.

The 0 APR credit card offers may offer you the 0% Introductory Rate and benefits with the package. If you think about, 0 APR credit card offers, you may realize that the cards can come in handy. A credit card from where I am standing can offer you a bit more; that is if you don’t make a mistake and apply for a card through the wrong lender.

Seeking a 0 APR credit card offers of your choice is not as difficult as people may think when you compare online. However, since the Internet, credit cards are easy to come by. Some cards have advantages others do not have. It makes perfect sense to compare before committing to a lender. The lenders are people who make money every time someone signs up and uses the credit cards. Keep this in mind when you are looking for the free online credit cards and you will succeed.

Permanent health insurance can now be bought online

The Web Clinic — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:08:10 +0000

You may have noticed that the various consumer organisations have been suggesting that we all overhaul our finances regularly to make sure that we don’t spend too much on the products we need but where the cost can differ hugely. To see for myself just what could be saved I decided to start off by doing a permanent health insurance comparison and to my surprise the savings that everyone were talking about we right there on the screen in front of me.

With renewed impetus I did the same for other financial service products I pay more regularly and within a matter of a few hours I had radically reduced my monthly outgoings. It’s a curious feeling having made such a seismic change to ones finances. Do I regard the savings as new money or old money I’ve wasted in the past? One thing’s certain; if you don’t do this straight away you’re only costing yourself money. I would hazard a guess that I have saved enough to pay for a holiday with the combined saving I have been able to make.

Source: http://www.permanenthealthinsurance.uk.com/blog/2011/11/18/permanent-health-insurance-can-now-be-bought-online/

Don’t waste money, get as many mortgage protection quotes as possible before buying

The Web Clinic — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:38:39 +0000

My wife and I are both in our fifties and the newspapers describe us as Dinkies which as I write this I don’t know what the ies stands for but we have a double income and no kids. Or rather to be completely accurate about this, our children have long since left home which I’m sure makes us empty nesters or is that the children I’m not sure. We both have reasonably well paid jobs. That is to say, compared to the national average wage we do, but compared to our friends we are about normal. Perhaps if they had a survey that compared you with the people you wanted to be compared with more people would take notice and read it. Whilst they are at it, it would be helpful if they could explain what the ies stands for and what exactly a empty nester is and I’ll start to sound like I know what I’m talking about. Anyway the reason for me penning this was to say that there are probably many others in our situation that once they find themselves in the years between kids and retirement probably tend to think of their pension as their priority and they would probably be right. However, most people are likely to have had a mortgage and possibly switched from a repayment to an interest only and not switched their life insurances or mortgage protection quotes so potentially leaving them selves with a shortfall should the worst happen before the mortgage is paid off. It’s probably worth checking as we have done and we did have to put some more cover in place. Clearly we could’ve chosen not to do so, as we do have additional life cover through our employers however, as the economy is in a state of flux at the moment, who knows if our jobs are likely to be there in a year or two’s time and as our state of health is reasonably good at the moment it seemed to make sense to do it now as we never know what around the corner.

Source: http://mortgageprotectionquotes.org/blog/2011/11/17/dont-waste-money-get-many-mortgage-protection-quotes-possible-buying/

Admin IQY — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:43:33 +0000

Debt consolidation is a fantastic idea for many debtors, throughout the UK who are struggling to keep up with the mounting cost of their debts. Debt consolidation involves consolidating all of your debts into a single loan. While debt consolidation is not for everybody, there are many who might benefit depending upon their level of debt, their income and their current repayments. It is often possible that the cost of the monthly consolidation repayments could be lower than the sum of your current repayments.

If you have debts of over £12,000 and are struggling to meet the repayments, a debt consolidation loan is not the most appropriate debt solution for you. This is because taking on more financial responsibility is likely to make things worse and often consolidation loans can be secured against property such as your home. An IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) might be a better proposition for these people. If, however, your debt is lower than that amount, a debt consolidation loan could be a very helpful endeavour.

The best way to find out of a debt consolidation loan could be the solution to your debt problems is to discuss your particular financial circumstances with an experienced debt consolidation expert. After discussing your individual monthly income and outgoings, some expert advice will afford you the opportunity to make the right decision and choose the right debt solution.

One of the main advantages of a debt consolidation loan is the opportunity to make just one monthly debt repayment rather than several; all at different times of the month, with different rates of interest. This allows you to simplify your debt repayment routine and remove stress.