Credit card companies can be very smart with the way they market their cards to us.
They know that once they've got you spending, they start making money.
While credit cards can be very handy to have, they can also be very dangerous - especially is you are not a good money manager.
Managing your credit is incredibly important in keeping control of your spending and staying in the clear.
The danger is that the lure of 0% interest credit cards can be too tempting to resist.
With so many 0% cards being advertised today it can be hard to resists.
It's important that you don;t just dive in, get the card and start spending.
The words "no interest" can be very deceiving and in the case of credit cards it usually comes with a very long list of conditions.
Most people never read them and end up paying a fortune in interest.
Here are 3 important things you have to always check before you get a 0% interest card.
1.
Interest Free Period Zero percent cards always come with a time limit.
They never offer the interest free period for the forever and in most cases it's only for 6 to 12 months.
It's an incentive to get you in through the door.
After this grace period is over you will automatically revert to the full interest rate.
2.
Standard Interest Rate How much interest will you pay when you grace period is over? In most cases it's incredibly high and it's high enough to more than make up for the period where you did not pay interest.
Most people spend, spend and spend for the first 6 months and then when the interest reverts back to the full amount they are faced with massive bills every month.
3.
Special Terms Most of the time these interest free cards come with very cleverly worded terms and conditions.
It's important that you know exactly what you are getting yourself in for.
When miss a payment there is usually a penalty and often you will automatically forfeit the interest free grace.