Large numbers of Australians are expected to use their credit cards to cover their bills in the next three months.
Those aged between 18 and 34 were expected to be the most likely to compare credit cards in order to get the best deals.
Statistics compiled by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) found that 45 per cent of people with children would utilise their plastic to cover unaffordable expenses, while 31 per cent without dependents pledged to do likewise.
Young Australians who earn less than $80,000 a year were deemed to be the most likely to be lured by the appeal of credit cards, the report noted.
D&B chief executive Christine Christian believes using cards in this fashion can lead to problems in future years.
“Many Australians are using credit in ways that may eventually harm them and expected interest rate rises later in the year may be the trigger that causes distress for many households,” she remarked.
A survey conducted by the Reserve Bank of Australia showed 60 per cent of Australians pay for their bills online.
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Across the country, many lawyers and financial experts have established offices known as debt relief agencies. When you consult with one of these specialists, you should bring all documents from your current debts to define what debt solutions are best for you to relieve your debt. For many people, these agencies are the first step to discharge their debts. For others, it’s a great way to the establishment of a payment plan to satisfy creditors. The experts will also teach you the tools of the management in respect of your more organized and more sustainable financial future by helping to ensure that this mess does not happen again. Freedom of debt is a long-term program that takes education and care, and these experts know how to do it.
As you know credit card debt relief is the most common problem, so you need to discuss it with your consultants. Read more…
City-dwelling Aussies are spending an increasing amount of money on their water bills each year, recent figures indicate.
According to data from the National Water Commission, the cost of the resource has risen by ten per cent each year, reports the AAP.
Those who pay their bills with credit cards may have noticed that this increase has occurred annually for the last three years.
The typical bill in cities with more than 100,000 people living in them rose from $756 in 2008/9 to $837 in 2009/10.
Individuals looking to offset the rising cost of water may want to compare credit cards online to ensure they do not pay more interest on purchases and bill payments than they need to.
Earlier this month, the same publication cited a survey conducted by Dun and Bradstreet, which indicated consumers are tightening their belts and that spending is expected to decline in the near future.
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I’m going to guess that I’m not alone when I feel that taxes are unfair. I’m young and need the money. I stimulate the economy with my spending! I’ll never get the Social Security I’m paying, so let me keep some tax money.
Then I stop and think about it. My taxes provide me with my local libraries, from which I borrow audiobooks for free. They pay for the police force and firefighters who keep our society orderly and safe. They keep the postal system running, as inefficient as it may be sometimes. They pay for our teachers and schools, and our city animal shelter. As much as I want to complain about paying my taxes (and accountant), it’s really not that bad. We pay far lower individual taxes in the United States than in Europe. Heck, we can even file our taxes online and pay it with our credit cards!
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With all kinds of special promotions available, rewards programs offered, and different store and brand affiliations, it’s no wonder people are tempted to add more credit cards to their wallets. From Visa to MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, the choices for credit card issuers and offers go on and on. It can be challenging to select the perfect card for your needs, so sometimes accepting more than one credit card offer gives an easy solution. But when it comes down to it, how many credit cards is too many?
“There are two ways to look at this, depending on your objective,” says Gail Cunningham, Vice President of Public Relations at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “A person really only needs two general purpose credit cards.
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As per the research conducted by Sainsbury’s credit cards around 8.65 million of the population plan to apply for a fresh credit card within the next twelve months and 28% has revealed that they would prefer to take cards that offer them a loyalty reward. This seems to be the deciding factor while choosing a card.
But the research has also revealed that only less than 35% of the credit cards in the United Kingdom offer any loyalty reward and 14% of them offer cash back, and around 11% offered cash back that was less than 1%. There are those that also charge a fee to have a card. O
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You spoke; Citi listened. In direct response to consumer research, Citi has made available several new features to its “ThankYou Points” rewards members. This includes the introduction of a “Travel Center,” an expanded “Bonus Center” and a “Points Transfer” program that enables members to give their points to other members.
For starters, the Citi “ThankYou Travel Center” lets you use your Citi credit card in combination with “ThankYou Points” to get travel rewards. For example, if you don’t have enough points for a flight, hotel reservation or vacation package, your Citi credit card can be used to pay the difference, with no blackout dates for flights, hotels, cars and vacation packages.
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Individuals who visit other countries and use preloaded travel cards have been advised to check the small print and hidden fees before deciding to use their plastic.
According to the Australian Business Traveller, this form of plastic can be useful for purchasing items over the counter as there are often no charges.
However, there are certain costs that might tempt some to compare credit cards online and use this payment method instead.
For example, many banks charge an initial fee for the purchase of the card and it can cost between one and 1.1 per cent when money is loaded onto the plastic.
There is also a standard fee for withdrawing money from cash machines, although this is also true of credit cards.
Last month, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced that those using its credit cards might soon be able to deactivate them for use abroad in an effort to reduce the number of people who are the victims of fraud, ZDNet.com reported.
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They said it couldn’t be done, but it has: Two blog posts in two blog carnivals — in one week.
This week, two of my recent blog posts made it into two separate carnivals, establishing what surely must be some sort of Internet record. Yeah, that’s right Rebecca Black: You’re not the only online phenomenon.
My blog post about the Epsilon data breach, “Consumers, bank customers on alert following major email theft,” made it into the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted this week by Blogging For Change. Meanwhile, my blog post about an Experian credit reporting foul-up titled “April Fool’s Day blunder temporarily damages borrowers’ credit” was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival, hosted by Thousandaire. Those carnivals collected lots of great personal finance posts from across the web, and like a recording artist winning their first Grammy, I’ll say that I’m humbled to be included alongside them.
Those blog carnival inclusions have already made for an exciting week, and it’s only Monday. Read more…
