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These days, credit cards are driving the consumer market all around the globe. This is a mode of payment that yields benefits like car rental coverage, cash-back points, and automated payments just to simplify our lives.

However, a user needs to be aware of the ways in which a con artist can misuse these credit cards. It’s truly essential as these cards can yield disastrous outcomes when misused. With cards depicting high APR, you may find it tough to pull out of your debt burden. Avoiding debt is your only way out this problem.

You may do your research on using credit cards if you really wish to handle them responsibly. You may come across several online resources illustrating the use of credit cards regardless of whether you’re applying for your first card or is paying off dues to improve your credit rating. While repaying your credit card debt, you must arrive at an affordable minimum payment like when you calculated your personal loan EMI.

Know how to use your credit cards from now on:

1. Repay Your Credit Card Balance Each Month

You must stay focused on repaying your credit card dues every month. You shouldn’t find an excuse since it charges more out of your bank account once you fail to live up to these payments.

You’ll need to bear an interest worth up to 25% based on the outstanding credit balance if you fail to make a payment or opt for making a minimum payment.

You can only keep high rates of interest from piling up if you pay off your dues each month. You must also refrain from skipping a payment. You might have to pay a penalty interest (up to an APR worth 30%) in case you miss out on a due date. Your credit score takes a hit when you actually need to pay a penalty.

2. Restrict Credit Utilization to a bare minimum

Apart from improving your credit score, it will even help in restricting your debt. Credit utilization is the metric that constitutes a large portion of your credit score. Your FICO score tends to rise when your credit utilization falls.

For instance, your credit utilization looks great when it’s valued at 16% after you’ve used 2 credit cards with a balance worth $600 and a combined limit of $3,100. In order to fetch the maximum benefits, you may choose to restrict it below 30%. While avoiding the risk of acquiring debt, you’ll even enjoy an improved credit score.

3. Avoid Using Multiple Credit Cards Simultaneously

You may be lured by the benefits of opening several credit cards especially when you’re seeking the advantage of being a new cardholder or attempting to redeem reward points. You may be thrilled to make the most of cash-back or 0% APR offers. However, you must refrain from opening multiple accounts till you’ve learned to use a single card responsibly.

Chances of overspending get increased when you have several cards in your arsenal. You may even miss out on a due date. You must restrict the number of cards in your wallet as you won’t like to fall prey to any of these incidents.
Credit cards are indeed a very useful tool when you know how to use them properly. By considering the tips mentioned above, you may certainly walk a step forward and repair your credit rating. It will help in securing the financial future of your loved ones.

You must have sought ways to invest in various asset classes from time to time. You’ll get an opportunity by opting for a Unit Linked Insurance Plan. It will even cover you for certain unfortunate circumstances with a life insurance policy. A portion of the amount that you pay towards your premium may be invested in your hand-picked plans. It enhances your chance to achieve a higher return on investment.

If you’re truly eager to achieve your long-term financial goals, your investment portfolio must comprise of ULIPs. Apart from ensuring a cost-effective way of earning more on your investments, a ULIP plan even allows your savings to grow and accumulate more wealth over time.

Compared to other traditional insurance policies, ULIPs yield a unique opportunity for you to enjoy the freedom of customizing your policy while comparing a plethora of options that match your investment needs. Like any other insurance policy or wealth plan, the features of a ULIP plan get you overwhelmed.

Check Out a Few Points on Why ULIPs Are a Good Investment Option:

Multiple Goals:

ULIPs enable you to invest a portion of your premium towards debt, balanced, and equity funds, while the remaining portion goes out towards life cover. Thus, a single product allows you to enjoy the benefits of investment and insurance at once.

Higher Returns:

By opting for ULIPs, you’re actually investing your money across numerous reliable investment options like equity and bonds. ULIPs are a great opportunity for you to obtain quality returns linked to the share market. You won’t enjoy such returns with any traditional insurance policy.

More Flexibility:

The fact that a ULIP enables you to shift from one investment fund to another is a proof of its flexibility. Facts concerning your market performance and risk appetite will help you to pick any of the balanced, equity, and debt funds.

Economic:

ULIPs are certainly amongst the most inexpensive market policies that yield both investment and insurance benefits. The fact that the latest ULIPs don’t demand any policy or allocation costs often makes them more inexpensive than that of the mutual funds. ULIPs are also quite popular due to their tax benefits.

Tax Benefits:

ULIPs can act as an efficient tax-saving tool. The amount that you pay towards your ULIP policy premiums is entirely tax-exempted under certain circumstances. Being a policyholder, you’ll get more chances of extending your savings at a time when there’s no need to pay tax on the amount of premium.

In addition, the portion of your income that’s taxable comprises of deductibles like that of the maturity and death benefit. There’s no reason for you to be concerned about paying a hefty sum as tax out of your savings.

Long-term investment plans like ULIPs are meant for individuals that opt for financial planning for the long run. There’s a 5-year lock-in period that comes with every ULIP. It helps you set your long-term goals in a proper way. The growth that you achieve with ULIPs can help you meet your long-term financial objectives like that of buying a property or fulfilling your daughter’s wedding plans. These days, you may even pick one out of a diverse range of ULIPs.

If you’re taking out your first online personal loan, it probably means you don’t have a credit history or a credit score. This doesn’t however hold true if you’ve had or currently have a credit card (if you’ve had a credit card in the past, you’ll have a credit score). Lenders use your credit score obtained from your credit report to understand how good you’ve been at managing credit in the past. Personal loans are unsecured loans that don’t involve collateral, and usually come with a higher interest rate in comparison to secured loans. This is precisely the reason why having a good credit score is important for your application to get approved.

Let’s forget the credit score part for now. If you’re a first timer, here are some things you should note before taking your first unsecured personal loan:

Know the various charges involved

Personal loans come with a list of charges that include late payment charges, EMI bounce charges, processing charges, pre-closure charges, and part-payment charges. When you’re taking out your personal loan for the first time, make sure you are aware of the various charges. It is of course, always good to be aware about how much lenders are charging you.

Choose a short repayment period

Choosing a short repayment period helps reduce the interest payment over the course of your loan tenure. Longer tenures attract higher interest payments, but lower monthly repayment amounts. As your first loan, you wouldn’t want to pay too much interest, do you? However, if lower monthly repayments suit you, you should go ahead and choose a longer tenure, for you can always pre-close your loan after a certain period. Note that most lenders require you to complete a minimum of 6 months or 12 months of your tenure before you can pre-close.

Don’t borrow more than you need

Your approved amount might be higher than what you asked for – lenders use this tactic to make you borrow more. Don’t fall for it thought. Borrow only how much you need. Borrowing more than you need is just setting the platform for unnecessary debt accumulation.

Negotiate the interest rate

Negotiating the rate with the bank will help you get a lower interest rate on your loan. Moreover, if you don’t have a credit history, there’d be multiple lenders in the market willing to offer you a loan. Going by this logic, it is advised that you negotiate the interest rate on your loan to get a reduced rate.

Don’t apply with multiple lenders

Applying with multiple lenders negatively affects your credit score. Too many credit inquiries reflect credit-hungry behavior, and lenders can reject you on the basis of this – rejections bring down your credit score as well. So for starters, make sure you apply with only one lender.

The best home improvements are those that give you the best return on investment (ROI.) Some of these, like flooring from Wraps Studio, work well, as long as you choose the best options for each room of your home. Certain types of flooring, like luxurious carpeting from carpet grapevine tx or traditional hardwood floors, are guaranteed to give you the best ROI. Here are eight tips that will help you with this process.

1) Know the Different Types Of Flooring

You need to understand the differences between the types of flooring. There are so many options on the market, from various kinds of tile to laminate and bamboo floors that just going into Wraps Studio may give you a headache. If you educate yourself first, you’ll be much better off.

2) Choose Flooring That Fits Your Needs

Don’t just buy the cheapest or most expensive flooring out there. Instead, pick the type that best fits each room of your home. Look for study options for busy rooms and luxurious, finicky ones for the spaces that get less traffic.

3) Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Advice

Flooring store employ experts who can answer questions and help you choose a style or finish. They’re in the store for a reason – ask them for help if you need it.

4) Diversity Your Flooring

It can be tempting to cover every inch of your subfloor with carpeting from carpet grapevine tx. However, you should break things up as needed and choose the very best flooring for the room. Your home will look more complete, and you won’t have to worry about scaring buyers off with a carpeted bathroom or kitchen.

5) Personalize Your Floor

The key to making your house stand out from all of the others on sale in your area is by adding some personalized touches. Buyers will appreciate those hand-stenciled floors and other details.

6) Redo Your Floors When Needed

If you can’t afford to have, new flooring installed, then make the most of what you already have. You can restain hardwood floors, and they’ll end up looking as good as new. In fact, if you’re afraid of the staining process, paint works just as well. It will cover up any stains and watermarks and give your home a whole new look.

7) Spend Time Doing Necessary Maintenance

You’ll need to do some regular maintenance in order to keep your floors looking nice. It might be something as simple as wiping up spills right away to steam cleaning your carpets every few months. Do what you need to in order to make your flooring look as good as new.

8) Prevent Your Floor from Becoming Damaged

Some types of flooring are prone to damage. If you have this finicky flooring, be gentle with it. If your wood floors are light in color and you’re worried about permanent stains, then lay down a rug. However, at times you might just have to install new flooring in order to reverse any damage.

Managing your finances can be overwhelming when you don’t make use of the right tools to address them. The amount of paperwork will make you shudder if you continue to do things the old-fashioned way.

Making use of technology can revolutionize the way you do your finances. There are services and apps available that will help you simplify payment transactions, staying on top of your savings, and monitoring your personal budget.

Here’s how you can do a better job of managing your money with the help of tech-powered solutions.

1) Register for online banking

Why spend precious time waiting to be attended to in a bank when you can complete your transactions online? Whether it’s checking the balance on your account or transferring funds, you no longer need to go to the actual bank, which saves you money and time.

The major benefit of online banking services is that you have instant access to your money. Plus, with mobile SMS banking, you don’t even have to carry around your laptop. With a few clicks on your phone, you can check payments and see if your budgeting numbers are correct.

The access alone can already help streamline your finances so that you’re always up-to-date when it comes to your money.

2) Opt for paperless

When you see a stack of paper bills inside your mailbox, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by your financial obligations. Sometimes, you tend to place them somewhere you can’t remember, which leads to late fees.

As much as possible, go paperless so that you can easily track your bills the moment they hit your email.

Without the possibility of misplacing your bills, you are less likely to forget due dates of payments. Most utilities and bills have the option for customers to go paperless.

Check if you’re able to sign up for such by taking these steps:

1. Sign in to your online account and check if you have an option to have your bills sent via email.
2. Then, follow the prompts in the email to pay the bills without any extra fuss.

During tax time, it’s a bonus that you no longer have to sort through your stack of bills to gain an idea of how much you’ve spent. You only have to log into your account to look at your statement.

3) Automate payments

If you can, set-up automated payments for accounts that stay consistent every month. So instead of going into your account and paying manually, the amount is debited automatically.

There are many banks that will allow you to have your own auto-pay rules. You can even choose to have the amount immediately sent via check or electronically to your selected service provider.

However, being on auto-pay doesn’t mean you can ignore payments; you still have to check transactions to ensure they’re paid correctly.

4) Combine or eliminate your accounts

When you have countless open accounts, several payments to make regularly, and account maintenance to fulfill, you need to “spring clean.” Streamlining accounts will tidy up your payments and transactions so that you have a simpler path to money management.

Take a look at your regular monthly bills and you may find unnecessary services. If possible, combine or eliminate accounts you don’t need. For instance, if you’re maintaining several credit cards but have one card with a tiny balance, pay it off and close the account. Doing so will leave you with one less payment to remember.

5) Perform a regular budget check

You may have a budget in place, but lining up the numbers isn’t enough to maintain order in your finances. You still have to regularly check your budget to ensure that your numbers are right. Furthermore, you should allow adjustments for any unplanned expenses.

To avoid disorganized finances, you should balance your budget on a regular basis. Make it a habit to schedule a monthly check-up on your budget by following these steps.

● Gather your bills for the month.
● Log-in to your online bank account.
● Look at your account and check if payments match bills and there are no suspicious charges.
● Discuss next month’s expenses with your partner or family.
● Make adjustments to any budgeting numbers that need it. One example is your electricity bill during the summer.
● Ensure that you’re still on track with the financial goals you’ve set.

Don’t let your finances control you. Handle your finances better by using technology and regularly tracking your budget. Remember, how you manage your finances matters as much as the math.