Clever Methods Of Avoiding Credit Card Fees And Interest Rates

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Using two credit cards with different closing dates, cardholders can transfer balances between the two cards to avoid interest rates and credit card fees.

It?s a well known fact that credit card companies make a living by charging interest rates and other various fees to cardholders. If these fees were not in place, credit card companies would not receive the full financial benefit when consumers use their cards.

Credit cards charge various fees for use of their credit card. The most common fees that cardholders pay are late fees when they send a payment more than thirty days late and the over-the-limit fee imposed when the cardholder makes purchases that are higher than the credit limit. The easiest way to avoid these fees is by making monthly payments on time and by not charging more than the credit limit.

The interest rate is the fee imposed by the credit card company for the convenience of carrying a balance on the credit card beyond the grace period. The grace period varies from one credit card to the next, but is included on the monthly statement. When you do not pay the credit card balance in full before the grace period, the balance on the credit card will be subject to the interest rate. Read more about credit card rates at http://www.credit-cards-with-low-apr.com/.

Between the interest rate and the credit card fees, cardholders end up paying much more than the original amount purchased using the credit card. Conventional methods can be used to avoid paying these fees. Savvy credit card users think outside the box to avoid paying fees to credit card companies.

If you have two credit cards that allow free balance transfers, you can continue to shuffle your balance between these two credit cards without having to pay any interest or late fees.

For the credit card shuffle to be successful, the two credit cards must have grace periods that close on different dates. If the closing dates are on the same day, you will not be able to transfer the balances between credit cards without being subject to an interest charge or late fee or both. Should your credit cards have the same closing dates, you can call the credit card issuer and request to have your due date changed. This will change the closing date of the credit card.

You must be precise with the transferring the balances between the two credit cards. Let?s say you Card A has a due date on the 1st of the month and Card B has a due date on the 15th of the month. To avoid paying a finance charge on Card A, you must transfer the entire balance of the credit card to Card B before the 1st of the month. Then you must again transfer the balance from Card B to Card A before the 15th of the month. Being meticulous about making the transfers between credit cards on the correct dates is a must to avoid paying interest rates and fees.