financial independence

So, you've got that shiny new credit card, only to find out that the
interest rate on the balance is more than you bargained for. Here,
we'll give you some tips on paying less interest over time, as well as
reducing your overall interest rate.

First of all, the easiest way to pay less in interest payments is to
simply pay off the entire balance of the card every month. Most of the
major credit card companies won't charge you any interest, or any fees
as long as you keep the entire balance paid off on a month to month
basis.

Sometimes you may run into unexpected expenses, or want to make a
larger purchase on a credit card that you can't afford to pay off in
the same month. Under these circumstances, you're going to have to
expect to pay a little bit of interest. That doesn't mean there aren't
other ways to save yourself a little bit of money though.

The first thing you can do is to make sure that you've got the best
deal available to you as far as your credit card goes. Credit cards,
like anything else in life, have wildly different fees and charges from
one card to the next. If you do find a company willing to offer you a
card with a lower interest rate, you can take them up on the offer, or
call your current credit card provider and let them know you've been
offered a better deal, and see if they can match the interest rate for
you.

Your credit score plays a huge role in determining the interest rate
that credit card companies are willing to offer you. Generally, the
better your credit score, the lower the interest rate you can expect to
pay. You may want to get a copy of your credit score, and see if there
are any discrepancies or outstanding debts that you didn't know about.
If you can fix these problems, your credit score will generally improve
over time, and then you can reapply for a credit card with a lower
interest rate, or call your credit card company and see if they can
give you a better deal with your improved credit score.

The best way to pay less in interest, and to keep your credit score in
good standing, is to try and only make purchases on your card that you
will be able to pay off within the next month or so. This isn't always
possible though, so it definitely helps out if you shop around and make
sure that you are getting the best deal possible on your credit card.

What you don't want to do is to rack up so many charges on your credit
card that you can't afford to pay it off over time. Sometimes people
fall into the trap of getting themselves so far into debt that they can
barely afford to make the minimum monthly payments on their card. This
results in paying nothing but interest payments every month, falling
behind on your payments, hurting your credit score, and ultimately
paying much more in interest payments then you would normally have to
pay.

If you just use a little common sense, and keep your monthly payments
to a minimum, you should easily be able to keep your interest payments
down to a reasonable level.