There are a bazillion credit cards out there and you ask how do you choose just one? Here is the answer. For those of you that are not debt-laden, you can choose just about any card out there with any interest rate. I just pay off my credit card at the end of every month. You first must decide what type of rewards will benefit you the most. There are some cards out there that offer cash back, reward points to your favorite online store, and airline miles with no blackout dates. Here is how you prioritize your choices.
First off, I know there are people like you out there that have credit card debt and there are others without it. For people who have credit card debt, your first priority is to find a new card that offers a 0% balance transfer. Often enough, you can find one with an intro rate of 0% for 6 months. This should be enough time to reduce your debt by 25%. If you find that, that isn’t enough time, find another card at the end of the 6 months and complete another balance transfer. Technically, this is not good for your credit, but what’s worse? You paying the minimum every month and occasionally having a late payment or paying down the debt with a few credit score points dropped? I hope you chose option two! And of course, stop buying those unnecessary toys!
Then there are those of you that have no debt, squeaky clean credit reports, and mommy and daddy’s money, you have more of a choice. First, I can’t hate on you that have ridiculous amounts of money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a place for it somewhere to invest! 
First, you must prioritize the “bang for the buck” attributes of the credit card. You should NEVER sign up for a card that has an annual fee. I mean, come on, what’s the point of signing up to use money you don’t have and pay for the use? Common sense, one, Credit Card company, zero. Once you’ve done this homework, you can now have the pleasure of selecting your rewards. Do you want airline miles? Do you want money towards Amazon.com purchases? Or are you eyeing that cash back check for every 5K you spend? Whatever your fancy, here are a few candidates that you might want to consider:
1. Amazon.com Visa - No annual fee and each dollar spent is one Amazon point towards Amazon.com purchases. I believe you get Amazon Prime as well.
to be continued…
Blair Says:
September 28th, 2006 at 2:18 pmVisit Blair
well, you don’t have to be rich to not have credit card debt. Its a lifestyle - You either buy only what you can afford and deny yourself things if you don’t have the cash for it (aka treat a credit card like a debt card)…this is what I do.
Or, you are the type of person (which is the majority of people) who can’t deny themselves and figure they’ll pay it off - nothing wrong with this lifestyle it’s just a different way of thinking.
(Its like the diets - you can be the type of person who eats well all the time and can deny yourself when you can’t afford the calories. Or you can’t deny yourself and are the type of person who makes up for it at a later date.)
Perry Says:
September 28th, 2006 at 2:34 pmVisit Perry
I’m not saying that. Anyone can have debt. The point of the article is to state what you prioritize on your credit card purchases. And find the best card that suits you.
jim Says:
September 28th, 2006 at 7:26 pmVisit jim
Having the Amazon credit card won’t get you Amazon prime, but you do get 3 pts (3%) on purchases at Amazon.com.
Brian Says:
September 30th, 2006 at 3:53 pmVisit Brian
Ahhh, I mis-read the sentence: “Then there are those of you that have no debt, squeaky clean credit reports, and mommy and daddy’s money, you have more of a choice.”
- My bad.
Nonetheless, It is very good to figure out what you want out of your card, what will be the most benefit to you. We use the amazon card - you get extra credits when you purchase stuff on amazon (which is pretty-much anything you’d ever want), so that’s a bonus. But the real sweetness of the card is that you get 25$ for every 2 grand you spend. This may sound like a ridiculous ratio - but if you are putting gas, grocery store trips etc on the card anyway - you end up getting a bunch of $ that you are forced to spend on yourself. the gift certificates do not expire once you log them into your amazon account. So basically you end up getting free “toys and goodies” for stuff you are going to buy anyway.
This type of card is perfect for the people that I discussed in my previous comment - those of us who can’t justify spending cash on ourselves on fun frivilous things.