Before You Get Or Use A Credit Card...
By Wayne Quigley

Odds are, if you don't already have a credit card or two, you are eager to jump right in and get a brand new shiny credit card.

If you already have one, you may be eager to purchace something nice for yourself or someone else.
Before you jump right in and get that first card or even get that second or third card, or you put another penny on your existing cards, spend a few minutes reading some of the articles here.
Learning the in's and out's of credit cards can save you thousands of dollars in unnecessary fees and higher interest rates.

Is your time worth a hundred dollars an hour?

A thousand?

It could be worth $15,000 for an hour's worth of reading. That's how much you can easily save in credit card interest with just an hour's worth of research.

How can that be?

If you consider the difference on paying off a total credit card balance of $10,000 at 24% interest versus that same $10,000 but paying only 6% interest - and making the exact same monthly payment, not only do you pay it off in less than half the time, you also save $15,086 in interest charges. That's right, you save more in interest alone than what you owed to begin with!

Here's the breakdown:

Balance	Rate	Payment	# Payments	Interest Paid
$10,000	24%	$210.00	121	$16,457
$10,000	6%	$210.00	52	$1,371
Interest Saved:				$15,086

But wait! You can't get a credit card with that low of an interest rate, can you?

Yes, you can!

As of 1/23/06, for example, Navy Federal Credit Union has a credit card with an interest rate as low as 5.9% and a credit limit of from $1,000.00 to $50,000.00.

Click here to see for yourself.

Don't belong to the Navy Federal Credit Union?
No problem! Over 80% of employed Americans today are eligible to join a credit union somewhere, somehow.

For example, if you have a brother, sister, parent or child that's in the Navy or working for the Department Of Defense, they can join, and that makes you eligible to join, also. Click here to see their eligibility requirements.
You can also look in your yellow pages for a list of Credit Unions in your area, or you can Click Here to find a list by state. Contact them, or look at their web sites to see what their membership requirements are. Credit Unions are one of the best places to get a low interest credit card, and you are probably eligible to join one somewhere.

Now be sure and spend some time checking out the other articles on this site. It will be time well spent, I guarantee it, and you will end up with a much better credit card!