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Because of this, the choices out there are nearly endless.
However, your options will be limited by your credit score.
Charge card applications will require a credit check and even if you qualify, your score can negatively affect your interest rate and other fees.
It is a widely known fact that credit card companies make most of their money from high interest rates so you will want to watch out for this when you search for charge cards.
Though it may be easy enough to find a charge card low APR (annual percentage rate), it is always important to look at the fine print.
Even consumers with the worst credit get offers in the mail promising 0% APR.
However, if you dig a little deeper you will usually find at least two caveats to this.
First, this nonexistent interest rate usually only lasts for a short amount of time.
After that point, the APR can hike up to perhaps 25%, especially if you are late on a payment or exceed your credit limit.
The second thing these charge credit card offers hide as best they can is that the 0% APR is only really for those with truly excellent credit.
If you are one of the many out there with credit on the not-so-good side, you'll be looking at a much higher APR and most likely the fees to match.
If you are ready to apply for charge cards, be sure you do your homework.
Let's look at an example.
Two charge card offers arrive in your mailbox.
The first is for a card with a fixed APR of 15% and the second has a 0% APR for six months which will then bump up to 12%.
On the surface, you'd automatically think the second card is the better deal.
But this is where studying the fine print becomes crucial.
The 15% interest rate on the first card will remain the same unless you are significantly late or over your credit limit.
This card has no annual or monthly service fees, but it carries a late fee of $10 and an over-limit fee of $25.
The second 0% interest rate on the second card is dependent on your credit and effective for only 6 months.
The APR will then bump up to 12% or more depending on your past and current credit rating.
This card has a $75 annual fee, an $8 monthly service charge and if you go over the limit your APR immediately jumps to at least 21% For the sake of this example, we will say that you max out both your cards to their $1000 limit.
With the first card, if you pay $25 a month, make all your payments on time and never go over your limit this card will end up costing you approximately $1,400 and take about 4 and a half years to pay off.
The second card will start adding interest after the first six months, plus all those fees will be added to your balance.
This means that with a $25 a month payment it will take you nearly seven years to pay of the approximately $1600 debt.
Now which charge card offer sounds better? The point is, charge cards can be a great thing, but creditors are, first and foremost, out to make money.
As I said before, interest is their number one way of profiting.
You can find good deals out there and if you use them responsibly, charge cards can be a positive addition to your financial portfolio.
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