Open a New Credit Card For the Holiday Season
The holiday season is a season of gift-giving and gathering, which also often means it’s a season of spending. Opening a new credit card can be a great option for spending heading into the holiday season. There are plenty of places to save money or earn points when it comes to holiday shopping. Take full advantage of your spending power this holiday season!
Benefits of Opening a Credit Card Before Holiday Shopping
Opening a credit card before holiday shopping seasons can help with debt consolidation, earning extra rewards, and saving on interest payments all to save you money! Spend within your limits this holiday season with a new credit card that meets your needs.
Rewards Programs
One of the biggest perks that credit cards offer is the rewards programs where you can earn tons of different rewards on your spending. When you are looking at different credit cards, it is important to look at all the different options available for rewards programs. Different financial institutions will offer different rewards, at different rates. Knowing how your points work is important for knowing what purchases will give you rewards, the types of rewards available, how many points for dollars spent, how much those points are worth if there are spending limits, and how you can redeem points. If you understand your credit cards rewards system, it can be a huge benefit to have during holiday shopping.
Save On Interest Payments
If you are not going to be able to pay off your holiday shopping, you are most likely going to have to be making interest payments on your credit card debt. There are a few ways that you can get a lower APR on your credit card payments. The first way you can do this is to go to your current card provider and ask for lower APRs. Sometimes financial institutions are willing to lower rates if you have been a consistently good customer. The second way to get a lower APR is to find a new credit card provider willing to offer you lower rates. With the amount of different credit card options there are, there may be an option that saves you money out there you don’t know about. Explore your options and see if there is an option out there that can save you money on interest payments!
Consolidate Debt
One of the best reasons to take out a new credit card is to consolidate debt. Heading into the holiday shopping season, having your debt under control can alleviate financial stress. One of the ways to do this is with a 0% APR offer on balance transfers. Some financial institutions will do this for a limited time after opening a new card.
Managing Good Credit Card Habits This Holiday Season
Avoiding bad spending habits with your credit cards this holiday season can keep you out of trouble in the long run. The season of giving also comes with a lot of spending that can get out of hand quickly if you are not careful. Follow some of these tips to stay out of trouble this holiday shopping season.
Set Spending Limits
Good credit card habits with spending within your limits. One of the first things you should do before you start your holiday shopping is set appropriate spending limits. Set some money aside in your budget for the purpose of holiday shopping. Going into large debt over holiday gifts is never a good idea. If you are going to have debt, be sure to have a plan in place to pay off your interest.
Don’t Max Out Credit Cards
Keeping away from maxing out credit cards can cause damage to your credit score due to an increased “credit utilization”. The closer that you are to your maximum credit utilization, the more likely it is that you can damage your credit score. It is also harder to pay off a maxed-out credit card than one that has a lower credit balance at the end of the holiday season.
Watch Your Accounts For Fraud
The holiday shopping season is one of the peak times for credit card fraud with the amount of online shopping & credit card spending being done. When shopping online, we recommend being careful of what sites you are spending your money with. Taking the extra steps to ensure you are buying from a reputable vendor is a good habit to get in. When shopping in person monitoring your accounts is important too. An easy way to do this is to set up alerts with your credit card company for suspicious activity. No matter what form of shopping you are doing, staying ahead of fraud is the best way to combat it.
Get a New Credit Card with Latitude 32 Credit Union for This Holiday Season!
Credit cards from a credit union are a great option for a credit card. If you have been considering getting a new credit card before the holiday season, Latitude 32 has options that can meet your needs.
Latitude 32 Credit Union offers great options on Visa Credit Cards to its members with great rates and rewards available. Contact our expert team today to learn more about our options and becoming a member. We are here to help!
Latitude 32® Credit Union
1845 Sam Rittenberg Blvd.
Charleston, SC 29407
(843) 556-4809
[email protected]