Credit Card Advice

It’s hard to know what to do with old financial statements – which ones to keep and which to shred. But there are guidelines, and in general, if the statement could have to do with taxes, you should keep it for a long time, perhaps several years. Of course, if you do all your banking online, it is rather a moot point, because there aren’t paper records to protect. But how do you know what to do with other financial statements?

Tax returns should have the longest shelf life, as should cheques and receipts for things like charity contributions, mortgage interest, and other documents that may affect your taxes. You should keep such records for several years, if not permanently.

Documents related to pensions should be kept for at least a year, and permanently if possible. The same goes for bank statements where there might be something that relates to your taxes. For bank statements that don’t have any long term importance, you can get rid of them after a year.

You should keep your credit card statements anywhere from a couple of months to several years. Again, it depends on whether the statements contain tax related expenses. If not, keep your receipts until you get your monthly credit card statement. If they match up, go ahead and shred the receipts. Hang onto the credit card statement for another month or so, and if there are no purchases with long term importance or related to taxes, you can get rid of them then.

The term “get rid of” goes well beyond tossing your statements into the bin. At the very least, they should be run through a shredder. Cross cut shredders are more destructive than regular shredders, but even with regular shredders, if you mix up the shredded paper that collects, you’re going to put off all but the most determined (or crazy) criminals wanting your financial information.

Some people go farther than shredding their financial records. Some incinerate them, and others get very creative, using them to line the cat box or composting the bits with chicken manure (if they have chickens). These measures are probably not necessary, but it does point up the need to keep your financial information close to the chest.

If you have the option of having your statements online, it may be worthwhile. For one thing, they’ll be archived, and for another, you won’t accidentally leave them lying around in plain view where a dishonest repairman or dodgy roommate might see them.

Credit card fraud is a worldwide problem, and the poor economy has made it even more of a problem. It is vital that you protect yourself from credit card fraud, and there are a number of steps you can take to do so.

First and foremost, only keep the best credit cards. If you have two or more credit cards that are costing you too much in interest – close them down!

So, assuming you’ve got rid of your excess credit cards, what do you do about the ones you still carry around? Several things. For one, if it’s just a quick trip to the market for milk, leave your credit card at home. That way you don’t risk dropping it, or losing it. If you’re like most people, though, carrying your credit cards is a way of avoiding having to carry around large sums of cash, and that is a good thing. If someone takes several hundred euros cash from you, you really have no recourse. But if someone takes several hundred euros in the form of a credit card, your losses are limited.

Here are a few ways to avoid credit card fraud.

• If anyone calls you or e-mails you saying they are your bank and they need your credit card details for some reason that might sound perfectly legitimate, do not provide any of that information. Instead, call or e-mail your bank directly and ask if they contacted you wanting account details. Most will never call you asking for such information, so that you know that an e-mail or call asking for your credit card details is deceptive and dangerous.
• Do you ever play those games online where you have a formula for creating your “pirate name,” or your “stripper name”? Often they’ll say you use your mother’s maiden name for part of it, and then the name of your street for part of it, and maybe your pet’s name for part of it. It sounds innocent enough, except that these are the exact details you use online or over the phone to establish your identity, and if those details get into the hands of someone stealing your identity, they can do a lot more damage.
• Report any suspected credit card fraud immediately. If you report it within 24 hours, you usually won’t be held responsible for anything charged on the cards. But if you wait you may be out a certain amount, say €50, which isn’t that much when someone’s rung up thousands of euros worth of charges, but it’s still €50 that you’d like to keep if you can.

Choosing a credit card in Ireland, like anywhere else, involves taking into account what you want the credit card for and what kind of credit you have. Obviously, if you have good or excellent credit, you’ll have more choices and better interest rates. But with so many cards out there to choose from it can be confusing to know where to begin. Three types of credit cards you can choose from are “rewards” cards, so-called 0% cards, and balance transfer credit cards.

Rewards cards allow you to earn “points” or credits toward some goal when you use your credit card to make purchases. Maybe you’ll get discounts, or points to use toward purchases. Sometimes the “reward” is cash back.

0% credit cards vary. There are the 0% balance transfer cards that let you transfer a debt from another card. There are 0% cards that allows you to make purchases on which you won’t pay any interest until the introductory rate is over. That period may be a couple of months or a whole year.

Balance transfer cards may or may not have a 0% introductory “teaser” rate. Often they do have a low introductory rate for a set period from the time you open your card. It is important to know that the clock on the introductory rate begins when you open your account, not when you transfer your balances. If you wait to transfer balances, you’ll have a much shorter period in which you’ll benefit from the low rate.

Some people simply opt for the card with the lowest interest rate they can get. “No annual fee” cards are very common now, and you shouldn’t have to trade off a low interest rate at the expense of a high annual fee. There are plenty of no annual fee cards that carry relatively low interest rates. Often, in the long term, choosing the card with the lowest interest rate – particularly if there is no annual fee – is the best strategy. Assuming you make payments on time and don’t incur fees for going over your credit limit or for other reasons, you should be able to keep that relatively low interest rate. And if they try to raise it on you for no good reason, you can probably shop around and find another card that will offer you a low interest rate. Low interest rate cards may not have the cachet that points or rewards cards do, but when it comes to keeping credit card expenses under control, it’s almost always the best way to go.

If you’re like most Americans, you have a huge cloud of debt hovering overhead; and most of that debt comes from credit cards. Credit card companies make it so easy to sign up for them. Sometimes you get a zero percent interest rate (at least at first) and sometimes you get a free hat, T-shirt or some other free gift. It’s only after the card arrives that most people go crazy with them.

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Ireland is the only country that has a credit card stamp duty. A stamp duty is a tax the government imposes on certain legal documents. The word “stamp” is a holdover from the days when an actual physical stamp was attached to a document to prove that the duty had been paid. The stamp duty on Irish credit cards and charge cards is for €30 per year per account. Charge cards are like credit cards except there is no interest because you pay it off at the end of the month.

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Depending how you interpret the word “design,” you can pick a “best” in many ways. If you’re looking for a credit card that looks nice, then there are credit card issuers like Capital One whose platinum MasterCards can be personalized in many different ways. However, if you get a credit card with the lowest interest rate that does not have a “smart chip” as some European Visa cards do, you can personalize your card in an almost infinite number of ways with credit card skins.

Think of credit card skins like the “skins” that people choose to dress up their iPod. It’s like a wardrobe of tiny clothing that won’t keep your card from working like it’s supposed to (unless you have a “smart chip” Visa). Credit card skins are basically super thin stickers that you apply to the front of your card with a hole over where your name, card number, and expiration date go.

There are websites where you can choose from a dizzying array of credit card skins with every kind of graphic or message you can imagine, from gay pride to preppy Argyle designs. Creditcovers.com has hundreds of designs to choose from and an opportunity to make your own design and make royalties from it if it sells.

Businesses can order custom credit card skins as unique and fun promotional giveaways. You can also make your own graphic credit card skins using a template in Adobe PhotoShop or a similar graphics program using t-shirt transfer paper and a color inkjet printer. Once you have the design the right size and the right shape (with the hole for your name, card number, and expiration date, print it out onto t-shirt transfer paper then cut the design out with scissors. You then put spray mount on the card, peel the backing from the transfer paper and place the design on the card. Put the ironing paper that comes with the t-shirt transfer paper over the card on an ironing board or reasonable facsimile. Preheat iron to “low.” Iron the card for 15 seconds. Check if the design adheres. If not, iron for 15 more seconds. But be careful, lest you melt your credit card with too much heat. Let cool. After the card has cooled cut away excess transfer paper with a mat knife.

Sometimes the best design for a credit card is the one that brings you the lowest interest rate. Once you have that, if it isn’t beautiful enough for you, then skins are the way to personalize your card into a statement about yourself.

Feel you have far too much credit card debt?  You are far from alone.  In 2009 credit card debt was at an amazing £53 billion!  With so much debt happening, and the credit crunch still biting, no matter what experts say about recovery, it is no wonder people are starting to feel the pinch.

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Credit Card Theft is a funny thing.  Just possessing stolen credit card can still be enough to get somebody in trouble.  It used to be that a person had to commit an actual larceny to be convicted of a crime.  With the Internet, the use of credit cards online, and identity theft, credit card theft is now often covered under a more general crime of identify theft.

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There’s nothing unique about Irish credit card debt compared to credit card debt elsewhere in the world. It is true that Ireland has suffered more than other countries in the worldwide recession, but even with a new economic reality, getting rid of Irish credit card debt is similar to getting rid of any other debt: it is a matter of commitment and hard work.

Most people, particularly if they travel, cannot do without a credit card. They can, however, do without eight or nine credit cards. Most money experts suggest having two credit cards, both of which provide a backstop in times of trouble. For those with multiple credit cards, there are several options for paying off your debt.

One option is transferring debt onto a new credit card with a low introductory interest rate and putting all your effort into paying that debt off before the “teaser” interest rate expires. It sounds like a great idea in principle, but if you can’t pay off €4,000 indefinitely with 14.9% interest, it isn’t that much more likely you’ll be able to pay it off in the 10 months or so that you have the low rate on the new card.

There are two approaches to paying off credit card debt. One is to pay off the one with the highest interest rate first. It makes sense that you’d want to pay off your most expensive debt before paying off your cheaper debt. If you choose to do this, and the card with the high rate has a big balance, you can certainly do it, but it will take serious discipline. If you can look at your statements online and watch as the balance falls, however, you can really draw motivation from that to keep working on the debt.

Another technique for paying off credit card debt is the “snowball” technique. That means you pay off your smallest debt first, then close the account, on the theory that you’ll be really chuffed at having got rid of an entire card’s worth of debt. Repeat with the new smallest debt, etc.

Either technique will work, and there is discipline involved in both. Which method you choose depends on your particular personality and what motivates you.

Consolidating loans may sound like a great way to get out of debt, but human nature being what it is, the sense of relief causes a lot of people to run up a whole new cycle of debt. In other words, borrowing your way out of debt is usually counterproductive.

Here are ten day trips you can experience in Ireland without spending a lot of money.

1. Fota Gardens and Wildlife Park, Cork. Visiting the wildlife park costs €13.50 for adults, €9.00 for U16 students, senior citizens and the disabled. A family ticket for two adults and up to four children is €56.00. Mornings and evenings you can watch wardens feeding the animals. You can also partake of Arts and Crafts, and special musical programs.
2. Mountain View Stables, Poulnagun Lisdoonvarna. A three hour horseback tour takes in view of the Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands, and Galway Bay. Beginners are welcome as are advanced riders.
3. Glenveagh National Park and Castle, Donegal.The staff are all local, and have been rated as friendly and helpful. Even the food in the small coffee shop gets rave reviews. The park includes the two highest mountains in Donegal, Errigal and Slieve Sneacht.
4. Muckross House and Gardens, Killarney. At €5.75 per adult, this is hailed as one of the best values for a day out. The mansion and gardens are spectacular. A 90 minute hike features animals, farms, and a blacksmith.
5. The 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour, Dublin, costs €12 and those who have participated say its guides are extremely knowledgeable and give the history of the 1916 Rebellion in such a way that the two hour tour seems to fly by.
6. National Botanic Gardens, Dublin is free. If you ride a bus to get there, it costs €1.50, and you have to have exact change. The National Botanic Gardens have received great reviews from plant lovers to families wanting a place to picnic.
7. The Milk Market, Limerick.This is an outdoor flea market where you can find a huge range of items for sale (but not milk). Fresh food on offer is anything from artisanal cheese to crepes to cherries.
8. The Lough Gill Drive, Sligo. This drive is said to be so captivating it has caused people to uproot and move here. It is very unspoiled and un-touristy.
9. Jack Meade’s Pub, Waterford. Jack Meade’s is more a place for a night out than a day out, but it comes highly recommended for its food, drinks (even fancy coffee drinks) and atmosphere. It is described as the Ireland you always imagined.
10. Cloghereen Blue Pool Walk, Killarney. This is a nature reserve with marked footpaths plus some unmarked paths that stray slightly. It’s a long, but easy walk to see the blue pool. This is one of those often overlooked, yet beautiful place you’re glad you found.