Shopping for The Best Credit Card Deals

You pay your bill off completely every month. You pay the minimum due every month, and you let a manageable amount revolve on your credit card. You pay the minimum due every month and your credit cards hover near their maximums. These are all payment profiles, one of which probably fits most credit card users, and there are a number of different credit cards that are tailored to offer the best value for any one of these scenarios. Match the right card with your spending and payment habits and you maximize your savings. Fail to do so and you might spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars needlessly.

Credit cards are big business today. Credit card vendors offer a huge array of incentives to lure your business. Four of the most common of these are cash back rewards, award point good for travel services and merchandise, 0% balance transfers and low interest on outstanding balances. Some even offer you the ability to custom design the picture on the card! Hundreds of thousands of consumers are spammed weekly by credit card offers either in email or regular mail, and if you've chosen a credit card product from that selection you have almost certainly not chosen the best one available for your particular spending habits.

One thing that all credit card offers have in common is this: all offers must contain a Truth in Lending Disclosure - it is required by law. Whether you receive an offer of credit in email or regular mail, you should make a game out of reading the disclosure before discarding. Pay particular attention to the interest rate offered - they're usually high, and aren't even close to the best deal that you can get if you shop for credit cards. As a matter of fact, some of the interest rates are astronomically high!

If you look carefully you will find that most credit card offers that you receive focus their sales pitch on one of these four types of rewards: low interest, cash back, award points, 0% balance transfers. Furthermore, whatever area of their focus, they don't perform well in the other three and may actually be extremely predatory in one or more of those areas. Here are some tips you can use to make sure that you choose the right credit card for your payment and spending profile:

1) If you pay off the complete balance of your credit card every month, you don't need to pay too much attention to the interest rate of the credit card, but "Not too much" does not mean "No Attention"! Do pay attention "grace period" associated with purchases on your credit card - the period of time between when you make a purchase and when interest begins to accrue. A longer grace period is better. Choose a credit card that offers rewards, or if you have a balance on another credit card that is charging you interest, pick a card that won't charge interest on balances transferred.

2) Most credit card holders maintain a manageable balance on their credit cards - that means a balance somewhere between 5% and 40% of the maximum balance allowed. If this is your usage pattern, you should of course seek a low interest rate credit card, but you may want to also take advantage of some of the other benefits offered such as cash back on purchases. This shows responsible use of your credit, and makes you an attractive customer to credit vendors; you have proven that you are a good credit risk - you pay your bills in a timely manner - and you maintain a positive balance. That makes you a good potential credit customer.

3) If your credit cards are always max'd out - at or near their limits - then interest is king. In choosing a credit card you should absolutely find the card with the lowest interest rate available. It may even make sense to pay a small annual fee just to drive the interest rate as low as you can. Don't depend on credit card marketing material that comes in the mail to help you find the best deal - shop for credit cards that offer the very lowest interest rate available, and the easiest way to do this by far is on line. With a low interest rate you can take control of the money that you pay in interest on your outstanding balance.

4) No matter what your payment pattern is be sure to pay your bills on time and always pay the minimum due at the very least. Credit card vendors have a nasty habit of ratcheting up the interest rate on your credit cards if you pay too little or too late - they sometimes do it without telling you, and your late payment on one card can affect the interest rates on all of your other cards. Be sure to read your credit card statement carefully every single month, and pay special attention to the interest rate that they're charging you.

The more you are informed as a consumer, the better your chances are to save some real money; this is true in all business and particularly true with credit cards. The amount of money that you can save by shopping for the right credit solution depends upon your spending habits and your payment schedule, but it can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars per year. Be credit wise: adopt a habit of reviewing the credit cards in your wallet or purse once or twice a year, and always be on the lookout, shopping for better offers. Chances are that if you're using a credit card that you've had for over a year or two, you can save money - there are better deals out there.