Credit Card Matcher

My father in law taught be a great tip for how to save money almost effortlessly.

It is a simple tip. On the face of it too simple.

All you do is record what you spend your money on. Common sense, right? But how many people do you know who actually do it? Exactly.

The secret is to record every single transaction, cash or card, down to the penny.

Now he did this the hard way. He used one of those little black leather bound notebooks, like a moleskine but probably not a name brand.

We have the ability to go one better and use a spreadsheet. Either use Google docs, your smart phone or take notes and or my favorite, collate back home using the awesome Microsoft Excel (I blog about Microsoft Excel productivity here).

Doing this gives you these immediate benefits:

1. You spend your money more conciously – you actually take notice of when you are spending
2. Impusle purchases dissapear as you make yourself accountable for each purchae
3. You can see where your money is going and trim the waste
4. Your outgoings add up automatically so you can see how much money you have left over
5. When you spot waste you can shift budget toward paying down debt or savings

Try it for a month and see how well it works for you!

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Applying for your first credit card can be a bit difficult, since credit card companies determine how creditworthy you are by how well you have handled credit in the past. You can’t show that you have handled credit well because you don’t have any credit history, and if no one will give you credit, you can’t show them that you are a responsible person who pays on time.

It may take a bit of time, but there are some steps you can take to show credit card providers that you would be a good customer. Here are some suggestions that should help:

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There are many options available to consumers who are interested in applying for credit cards. So many, in fact, that it may be confusing to try to figure out which one is right for you. Here are some suggestions to help you narrow down the list so that you can find the right one for your needs.

1. Your Usual Credit Card Habits

Take some time to think about how you really use your credit cards, as opposed to how you would like to use them. Ideally, you may want to avoid carrying a balance at all. If the reality is that you are likely to do so, then you will probably want to look for a card with a low interest rate.

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You have always thought of yourself as a good customer as far as your credit is concerned. You have made your payments on time and are not close to your credit card limit at all. Unfortunately, this may not be enough to keep your credit limits at the level you have previously had. The credit card companies are responding to the fact that some of their customers are defaulting on their debts by re-evaluating the creditworthiness of their other customers.

In a nutshell, even though you have done all the right things, you may open your credit card statement to find that your limit has been lowered. It’s important to understand that you still have some choices in this situation. You don’t have to just roll over and accept the credit card company’s decision. Here are some suggestions: (more…)

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It is not unusual for people to overspend their budget in December during the Christmas and holiday shopping season. When your credit card bill comes in January, you may be in shock and it’s very possible that the bill is more than you can afford to pay off.

At Credit Card Matcher, we will always tell you to never spend more money on your credit card then you can afford to pay off at the end of the month. Using a credit card responsibly is just that: only use a credit card to spend within your means. However, we can completely understand if you overspend in December, even with those coupons and discount vouchers. And the good news is that so long as you are disciplined the other 11 months, there is a straightforward way to eliminate your Christmas shopping debt.

Here’s the three step plan:

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