Using credit wisely: Introduction

You've got a credit card and you've learned how to manage it. Now we'll show you some ways to protect your good credit.
The topics covered in this chapter may seem wide-ranging, but they all have a common theme: wise and safe use of your credit card। Tempted to buy online? Here's why you want to use a card to make your purchases. Find a mistake on your bill? We'll show you how to dispute it. Want a free trip to Hawaii? Maybe a credit card with travel perks is the way to go. Can't get credit? A secured card might get you going. Too many bills due the first of the month? You can change your due date.

Changing the due date on your credit कार्ड
If you're like a lot of people, your monthly bills lack balance. They are weighted toward the beginning or middle of the month, making it tough to scrape together enough money to pay all the bills.
It's probably worst at the beginning of the month, when you have a hefty mortgage or rent payment and maybe a car payment and a credit card bill or two. Then, in the middle of the month, your bills don't total nearly as much.
A balancing actWhy not move your bills around, so they're not so heavy one part of the month and so light at another? Some issuers will allow you to balance out your monthly payments by changing the due dates on your credit cards. All you have to do is call the customer-service number on the bill and ask.
Just make sure that you pay your bills on time while the changes take effect. Don't expect this to be a quick fix for a cash-flow crunch. It takes a billing cycle, and sometimes two, before the date change takes effect. Meantime, you have to observe your due dates before the change takes effect, or you'll risk late-payment charges and possibly an unfriendly notation on your credit report.
I know how this works firsthand because most of my credit-card bills became due between the first and 15th of the month. This made it hard to pay the bills because my mortgage payment was due at the same time. After the mortgage payment took a huge chunk out of the checkbook balance, I would have trouble paying the credit card bills.Different cards, different rulesI called two card issuers and got different results. MBNA, the issuer of my MasterCard, allowed me to choose the payment due date no questions asked. I pushed back the due date from the seventh to the 18th, allowing me to pay the bill in the middle of the month, when my only major bill was a car payment.
American Express, though, was inflexible. I couldn't move the due date, but the customer-service representative told me that Amex's due date is only a recommendation. As long as the company receives payment before the next month's closing date, it's not considered late. That gives customers almost a month-long grace period -- enough time to pay when it's convenient to the cardholder.
If you carry a balance on your card, pushing the due date back a few days could cost you a little more on your next bill, because finance charges will continue to accrue. In other words, if you push back your due date by 10 days, you might have to pay 40 days' worth of finance charges on your next bill instead of 30 days' worth.
But at least you might have enough in your checking account to pay your credit card bill.

Have you ever stood behind someone in line at the store and watched him shuffle through a stack of what must be at least 10 credit cards? Consumers with this many cards are still in the minority, but experts say that the majority of U.S. citizens have at least one credit card -- and usually two or three. It's true that credit cards have become important sources of identification -- if you want to rent a car, for example, you really need a major credit card. And used wisely, a credit card can provide convenience and allow you to make purchases with nearly a month to pay for them before finance charges kick in.
That sounds good, in theory. But in reality, many consumers are unable to take advantage of these benefits because they carry a balance on their credit card from month to month, paying finance charges that can go up to a whopping 23 percent. Many find it hard to resist using the old "plastic" for impulse purchases or buying things they really can't afford. The numbers are striking: In 1999, American consumers charged about $1.2 trillion on their general-purpose credit cards.
we'll look at the credit card -- how it works both financially and technically, and we'll offer tips on how to shop for a credit card। (Experts say this should be a project on the scale of shopping for a car loan or mortgage!) We'll also describe the different credit-card plans available, talk about your credit history and how that might affect your card options, and discuss how to avoid credit-card fraud -- both online and in the real world.