Credit Cards

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Financial LiteracyCredit Card Information
University of Wyoming Delta Alpha Chapter
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Credit Cards

• What to look for in a credit card?
• An attractive credit card will offer low interest
  rates, rewards (such as cash back, points to
  purchase merchandise and airline, cruise, etc.
  miles), no annual fees, and a fraud protection
  program.
• What is a fraud protection program?
• A fraud protection program offers a 0 liability
  on unauthorized purchases.

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Credit Cards

• What to avoid in a credit card?
• It is important to avoid annual fees or
  membership costs for rewards, rewards that cost
  too much money, and variable interest rates.
• What is a reward program that costs too much?
• An airline rewards program that cost 100
  annually and requires you to charge 20,000 worth
  of purchases to earn a roundtrip flight is a
  program that is not valuable to a credit card
  user that does not spend 20,000.
• What is a variable interest rate?
• A credit card with a low introductory rate that
  switches to a high interest rate after a certain
  time period or after a late payment.

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Credit Card Debt

• How to get out of credit card debt?
• In order to get out of credit card debt, it is
  important to control your spending habits and
  avoiding more debt. This can be done by making a
  budget and seeing where you can cut expenses that
  can be put towards the debt. The more expenses
  you cut and put towards paying off your debt the
  faster you will eliminate the debt.
• See the budgeting guide for more help.

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Credit Card Debt

• What will paying more than my minimum payment do
  to my debt?
• Paying only the minimum payment on 5,000 of debt
  will take over 26 years to pay off, whereas
  paying twice the minimum payment on 5,000 of
  debt will take over 11 years to pay off.
• Use this link to customize your credit card
  payment.Credit Card Payment Worksheet
• Which cards should I pay off first?
• Pay off the credit card with the highest interest
  rate first.

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Credit Cards

• Where can I find other helpful information on
  credit card debt?
• Debt Calculator
• http//www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/creditcardpay.asp
  
• Tips to Get Out of Credit Card Debt by ABC News
• http//abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id1921876page1
• 12 Ways to Get Out of Credit Card Debt by
  salary.com
• http//www.salary.com/personal/layoutscripts/psnl_
  articles.asp?tabpsncatcat011serser035partpa
  r245

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Credit Card-Tips

• The average student credit card debt is around
  2,800.
• Dont become another statistic
• Try to only charge what you can afford to pay off
  at the end of the month.
• Interest rates, credit limits and other credit
  card features are not the same on all cards.
• Choose the right card for you

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For additional financial literacy information
please visit the links below. Student Loan
Information Savings Information
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References
Rosen, D. (2001, April 16). How do I get rid of
credit card debt? In Ask the Dollar
Diva. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
http//www.bankrate.com/brm/news/dollardiva/200104
16 Ivey, A. (2006). Drowning in Debt? 6 Tips
for College Students and Recent Grads. In Young
Money Blog. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
http//www.youngmoney.com/credit_debt/get_out_of_d
ebt/060830