5 Ways To Prevent Credit Card Late Fees

Written by Gary Gresham


Paying a credit card late fee isrepparttar same as throwing your money away. Late credit card payments can also hurt your credit score. The payment tips and strategies here will show you how to prevent these costly fees. When credit card companies process credit card payments, every single detail is extremely important. Get even one of these small details wrong and you will have to pay credit card late fees. The Fair Credit Billing Act requires credit card companies to credit paymentsrepparttar 143223 day they are received. However, this law also allows each credit card issuer to set their own specific payment guidelines. If any of these guidelines are not met,repparttar 143224 credit card company can take as much as five days to creditrepparttar 143225 payment. That means you can get your payment to your credit card company on time and it could become late during that five-day period. The credit card company could legally charge you credit card late fees. So it's in your best interest to follow their payment guidelines carefully. The payment guidelines are usually onrepparttar 143226 back of your credit card bill. Here isrepparttar 143227 five best ways to prevent credit card late fees. 1. Follow Credit Card Payment Guidelines Carefully This includes everything from a specific payment address torepparttar 143228 time of dayrepparttar 143229 payment has to be received to be credited that day. Some companies even require that payments arrive in their preprinted envelope they sent you with your bill. To be safe, always userepparttar 143230 preprinted envelope provided by a credit card company. Includerepparttar 143231 billing coupon, and writerepparttar 143232 amount you are paying inrepparttar 143233 box provided. Make your check legible, don't forget to sign it and double check thatrepparttar 143234 payment amount is correct. Write your credit card account number on your check and sendrepparttar 143235 payment withrepparttar 143236 proper postage torepparttar 143237 payment address requested byrepparttar 143238 credit card company.

To Buy or Rent - How Do You Decide?

Written by Lois A. Vitt


You have decided it's time to move – for one reason or another, your current housing situation no longer serves your needs. Now you facerepparttar big decisions: Do I continue to rent or takerepparttar 143222 plunge into homeownership? Is it time to give up my private home and return to renting? Which makesrepparttar 143223 best sense for me financially?

If you have never owned your own home, homeownership should definitely be your goal, either short-term or long-term. The American Dream aside, investment in real estate makes sense for everyone at some point. That involves building and following a financial road map. The question is, where are you right now on your financial road map? To answer that question, you simply must analyze your financial situation. Take stock accurately and objectively - assessing both your monthly income and your monthly expenses. It is a simple three-step process.

Step One: Establish Your Monthy Income After Taxes

Start by listing all of your monthly income. Be sure to list salary or wages/tips, savings and investments, alimony and child support, social security or pensions,and any other source of income.

Next list your estimated taxes broken down into a monthly amount. Don't forget to include federal, state, and local taxes.

Okay. Now subtract your monthly taxes from your monthly income. The result is your net income after taxes.

Step Two: Establish Your Monthly Expenses

This step is a little trickier since you will be entering expenses in three categories: * Current Expenses * Expenses if I Rent * Expenses if I Buy

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