How to Pay Zero Percent Interest on Credit Cards

Price: $6.99

DO YOU PAY FINANCE CHARGES

ON YOUR CREDIT CARDS?

If so, then this book can save you money!

This book is what you need to avoid interest charges on credit cards EVEN IF YOU CARRY OVER A BALANCE FROM MONTH TO MONTH!  This system has saved me thousands of dollars and it can work for you as well.

—Susan Strassner

$    Make credit card purchases when you need the merchandise, not necessarily when you have the cash.

$    Pay zero interest charges.

$    Simple computations.

$    SAVE MONEY!

$     Be in control of your credit card balances.

Here is the list of 15 things that can lower your credit score. Thanks to credit.about.com.

It seems that plenty of things these days will give you ding on your credit score.  So in order to educate and to prepare all those that have credit here is this comprehensive list of things that can hurt your score!

1. Paying late
Thirty-five percent of your credit score is your payment history. Consistently being late on your credit card payments will hurt your credit score. Pay your credit card bills on time to preserve your credit score.

2. Not paying at all
Completely ignoring your credit cards bills is much worse than paying late. Each month you miss a credit card payment, you’re one month closer to having the account charged off.

3. Having an account charged off
When creditors think you’re not going to pay your credit card bills at all, they charge off your account. This account status is one of the worst things for your credit score.

4. Having an account sent to collections
Creditors often use third-party debt collectors to try to collect payment from you. Creditors might send your account to collections before or after charging it off. A collection status shows that the creditor gave up trying to get payment from you and hired someone else to do it.

5. Defaulting on a loan
Loan defaults are similar to credit card charge-offs. A default shows that you have not fulfilled your end of the loan contract.

6. Filing bankruptcy
Bankruptcy will devastate your credit score. It’s a good idea to seek alternatives, like consumer credit counseling, before filing bankruptcy.

7. Having your home foreclosed
Getting behind on your mortgage payments will lead your lender to foreclose on your home. In turn, the late payments will hurt your credit score and make it harder to get approved for future mortgage loans.

8. Getting a judgment
A judgment shows you not only avoided your bills, the court had to get involved to make you pay the debt. While they both hurt your credit score, a paid judgment is better than an unpaid one.

9. High credit card balances
The second most important part of your credit score is level of debt, measured by credit utilization. Having high credit card balances (relative to your credit limit) increases your credit utilization and decreases your credit score.

10. Maxed out credit cards
Maxed out and over-the-limit credit card balances make your credit utilization 100%. This is least ideal for your credit score.

11. Closing credit cards that still have balances
When you close a credit card that still has a balance, your credit limit drops to $0 while your balance remains. This makes it look like you’ve maxed out your credit card, causing your score to drop.

12. Closing old credit cards
Another component of your credit score, 15%, is the length of your credit history – longer credit histories are better. Closing old credit cards, especially your oldest card, makes your credit history seem shorter than it really is.

13. Closing cards with available credit
If you have several credit cards some with balances and some without, closing those credit cards without balances increases your credit utilization.

14. Applying for several credit cards or loans
Credit inquiries account for 10% of your credit score. Making several credit or loan applications within a short period of time will cause your credit score to drop. Keep applications to a minimum.

15. Having only credit cards or only loans
Mix of credit is 10% of your credit. When you have only one type of credit account, either loans or credit cards, your credit score could be affected. This factor mostly comes into play when you don’t have much other credit information in your credit history.

Until recently, a credit score of 680 was something to be proud of. It meant you paid most of your bills on time, got dinged when you went shopping for a refi, but in general, had a solid enough record to get a loan at the best rates.

Not anymore. That 680 is firmly second-tier these days, says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at Credit.com. Now, borrowers need at least 720 to get the biggest loans or the best terms, including a credit card with the longest 0% APR promotion or a jumbo mortgage. For millions of once-desirable consumers with scores between 680 and 720, that 40-point jump could cost thousands of dollars over the life of a typical loan.

Once that line has been drawn, there’s no wiggle room, either. Lenders place borrowers into brackets, which means someone with a score of 719 is lumped into a bracket that starts as low as 690. That one measly point could cost more than $600 over the life of an average 36-month car loan, or $2,500 over the life of a 15-year home equity loan, according to Informa Research Services. And that is “ludicrous on its face,” says Ed Mierzwinski of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. ”Credit scores are a blunt tool being abused by creditors as if they were a sharp instrument.”

For their part, lenders say the credit scores aren’t arbitrary and that a score of 720 predicts the borrowers who are most likely to repay their debts and least likely to default. At the same time, they’re more profitable than people with a perfect score of 850, because they’re also likely to carry a balance or incur fees – and therefore, to generate profit for the lender.

As for 680, it’s become a casualty of the market crash. When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were backing mortgages after the crash, they settled on the 720 threshold for the best pricing, says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates, a mortgage-data tracking firm. At the time, most borrowers were afraid of lending to anyone, so 720 seemed plenty low. Because most mortgages are backed by Fannie or Freddie, the major lenders kept the same threshold, and as banks have started to put loans on their books again, it’s stuck.

Of course, while earning a 680 wasn’t all that difficult before the recession, the new good-credit bar of 720 is harder to reach. With more people out of work and unable to pay their bills, even consumers with previously envious credit scores might not reach 720. To get there, a consumer would need low balances on credit cards and a 15-year credit history — but might have missed a couple payments over the last two years. Someone who regularly pays on time could drop from the mid-700s if he applied for several new credit cards recently. Other 720-scorers: Those who haven’t missed a payment but carry balances that are more than 30% of their credit line; or those who have a short credit history but pay on time.

For someone on the cusp, the differences could be as small as one extra credit inquiry – like when a lender looks up your credit score before approving you for a loan, or if a prospective employer pulls your credit report without telling the credit bureaus it’s strictly for employment reasons. The same thing could happen if you’re suddenly using more of your available credit because you made a big purchase, says Ulzheimer.

What’s a 680 to do? Sadly, not much beyond the regular steps to credit score maintenance, experts say. That means paying bills on time and keeping debts to a reasonable level. And be patient, says Ulzheimer: As lending picks up, lenders will be forced to relax their standards once again. Within as early as six months to a year, 680 could be back on top.

This post of from ExtraCreditCards.com does a great job of outlining some of the risks involved with bad credit.  Enjoy!

The Cost Of Credit When Your Credit Is Bad

Having bad credit can put you into a comprising and costly position. Credit Card companies are willing to give higher risk individuals credit cards with terms, topically, not accepted by those with good credit. Your personal credit score is determined by: if you pay your bills on time, how much credit you have open, how much available credit are you not using and if you pay minimal or more than the requested amount per month. Your credit line will come with extremely higher interested rates and having a much higher annual fee. The credit cardholder now has to pay more money to obtain financing. The higher the risk you are, the more money it cost.

The consumer must figure out why they need a credit card. Planning trips, events, renting a car, shopping online or just going out for lunch usually involve using a credit card. However: if you keep in good standing with your bank and have a checking account, then you can request a debit card, put the money in the bank for your purchase then use your debit card. You already have that money in the bank and the bank takes it out right away. This will help you control your spending. Many banks do not charge you for the use of the debit card, if there is a charge it will be nominal. Getting a debit card might be a better solution than getting more credit. The debit card will have a positive impact on your credit worthiness.

If you want the credit card just for status and you are already struggling to pay bills, then to increase your debt will severely affect your financial bottom line. It might be a better plan to pay off debt, raise your credit score, and only use your credit on credit worthy items or large purchases such as a home or car.

With the many changes coming and going to credit cards it’s important to stay informed. The United States Government has done a lot in the past year to help protect you the customer from big and powerful credit card companies. By regulating certain practices that once tripped up customers, the rules involved have gotten a lot more transparent. However, with these changes comes new decisions. One such decision that needs to be sorted out is whether one should enroll in overdraft protection. So to answer this take a look at this video from creditcards.com that explains the ins and outs of overdraft protection. I hope you enjoy!

Should you enroll in overdraft protection? from CreditCards.com on Vimeo.

The Wall Street Journal is a great source for news in the personal finance world.  For our purposes I like to focus on the news in the credit card world.  This article from the Wall Street Journal is very informative, they give a very thorough look at the trends of credit card rates.  This is especially important during these times of great change in the credit card world.  I hope you enjoy this article!

Credit-Card Rates Climb

Levels Hit Nine-Year High as New Rules Limiting Penalty Fees Help Fuel Rise

Interest rates continue to tumble for the U.S. Treasury, companies and home buyers alike. But for a large portion of 381 million U.S. credit-card accounts, borrowing rates have been moving only one way: up.

And average rates are likely to climb further in the near future.

New credit-card rules that took effect Sunday limit banks’ ability to charge penalty fees. They come on top of rule changes earlier this year restricting issuers’ ability to adjust rates on the fly. Issuers responded by pushing card rates to their highest level in nine years.

In the second quarter, the average interest rate on existing cards reached 14.7%, up from 13.1% a year earlier, according to research firm Synovate, a unit of Aegis Group PLC. That was the highest level since 2001.

Those figures look especially stark when measuring the gap between the prime rate—the benchmark against which card rates are set—and average credit-card rates. The current difference of 11.45 percentage points is the largest in at least 22 years, Synovate estimates.

By comparison, the spread between 10-year Treasurys and a standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is just 1.93 percentage points, near historical averages, according to mortgage-data provider HSH Associates.

The moves are driven by a combination of forces. The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 has given card issuers less flexibility to raise interest rates as they wish. At the same time, issuers are still dealing with credit-card delinquencies that remain above historical levels.

“The rules have changed and the goalposts of risk have changed,” says Paul Galant, chief executive of Citigroup Inc.’s (NYSE: C – News) Citi Cards unit.

[See a Guide to the Latest Credit Card Tricks]

Banks used to boost rates in a hurry on borrowers who fell behind on payments or otherwise turned out to be surprisingly risky. However, under the Card Act, financial institutions must warn customers at least 45 days before making substantial changes to rates or fees. People can avoid future rate increases and pay off existing balances over time.

As a result, most changes affect only new credit-card purchases. New rules that took effect Sunday limit what banks can collect in penalty fees, too.

Now bank executives say they need to be smarter when setting the initial interest rates on credit cards. In many cases, that means starting off with a higher rate. “We can’t come up with penalty pricing or if we can, quite frankly, it’s too late to do much good,” says Stephanie Keire, head of consumer credit-card risk management at Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC – News).

The sponsor of the Card Act, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), said that despite the rising rates, the law benefits consumers because it eliminates unwelcome surprises and provides them with a clear picture of the costs they will face. “Better that consumers should know up-front what the interest rate is, even if it’s higher, than to be soaked on the back-end by tricks and hidden fees.”

At Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS – News), a diminished ability to boost rates is causing the Riverwoods, Ill., company to offer fewer interest-free balance transfers for new customers, says Discover President Roger Hochschild. Balance transfers have declined 60% from last year. A typical offer might include 0% interest on the transferred amount for a year, with customers paying a balance transfer fee.

More increases are looming as card issuers respond to the new penalty-fee limits, says Ken Paterson, vice president of research at Mercator Advisory Group.

[See Most Annoying Fees and How to Beat Them]

Many banks rushed to boost rates before limits on increases for existing customers took hold in February. Some lenders have recently raised rates for new borrowers. For example, Capital One Financial Corp.(NYSE: COF – News) in June increased the rate on its Classic Platinum for Young Adults card by 2.9 percentage points from the previous 16.9%, and increased the rate on its No-Hassle Cash Rewards card by 1.9 percentage points.

In May, Wells Fargo & Co. increased the interest rate on new Cash Back Home Rebate, Platinum and College cards by one percentage point. Citigroup boosted the minimum rate on its Platinum elect card by two percentage points in July. The higher rates apply to new accounts.

Besides raising, rates, increasingly stingy lenders are revamping some of their underwriting techniques. Banks are relying more heavily on what is known as trend analysis to determine which borrowers are showing signs of improvement or weakness in their financial condition, says Steven Wagner, president of Experian PLC’s (Other OTC: EXPGF.PK – News) Consumer Information Services unit.

A credit-card applicant might be considered too risky if he used much of his existing credit in recent months. That could increase the chances that the borrower might be denied a new card or charged a higher rate.

Some issuers want to better use their data on existing customers. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC – News) says its move in March to merge its deposit-gathering and credit-card units was aimed partly at weighing existing relationships with the Charlotte, N.C., company more heavily in credit decisions.

Bank of America now is more likely to offer customers with large deposits at the bank a lower rate, higher credit limit or better rewards than similar borrowers it knows less about.

Meanwhile, lenders are quicker to reduce credit lines at the first signs of financial stress, including late payments on other bills, a pay cut and unemployment. Several large U.S. banks have begun parsing employment and income data for changes that could affect the riskiness of existing customers, says John Cullerton, vice president at Equifax Inc. He declined to name the lenders.

In an effort to better manage risk, card issuers are handing out less credit, too. The credit limit on new bank cards averaged $3,923 in May, the latest month for which data are available, according to Equifax. That is down 11% from an average of $4,422 a year earlier.

Rising interest rates on many credit cards won’t necessarily lead to more profits for issuers. “The interest-rate increases are designed to improve and protect profitability,” says John Grund, a partner with First Annapolis Consulting Inc., but stubbornly high delinquencies and Card Act curbs will eat into those gains, at least in the short term.

Most cards now carry variable rates, meaning any increase in the prime rate is likely to be quickly passed along to borrowers. “Consumers will end up getting squeezed” when the Federal Reserve begins to raise rates as the economy recovers, says Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards.com.

Still, some bank executives say the interest-rate trend is likely to reverse as the U.S. economy recovers. “This is a very competitive industry,” says Kenneth Clayton, senior vice president at the American Bankers Association, a trade group. “Somebody will take advantage of lower defaults to drive prices down.”

Having a low interest rate on all your credit cards is great! However, having good credit can make this process so much easier.  I have all the tricks for you in my book, about keeping a low interest rate on all your cards, but this process is super easy if you maintain a good credit score from the get go.  So here are some great tricks from blog.creditorweb.com.  I certainly hope you enjoy these tips!

7 Tips to Increase Credit Score in 12 Months

The following tips are provided by Western Union’s Steve Kramer. Steve has more than 20 years of payment experience, is currently the Vice President of Electronic Payment at Western Union, and offers results-focused, actionable tips that enable consumers to improve their credit scores and get their financial lives back on track.

Here’s what you can do to increase your credit score over the next 12 months, according to Steve Kramer:

1. Think before you buy: If an item is on sale but takes two years with interest to pay it off, it is a ‘deal’ worth passing on.

2. Do not max out credit cards: Credit scores take into account just how much credit you have available, so it’s important not to max out your credit card balances; make an effort to keep balances low.

3. Pay bills on time: This is crucial to maintaining good credit for the long-term. Take advantage of a same-day payment option to ensure just-in-time payments to billers and creditors.

4. Do not apply for new credit cards: It’s tempting to open up a new credit card while out shopping but avoid it. New open credit may decrease your credit score. Also, every credit inquiry from a finance company decreases your score by points.

5. Thaw your frozen cards every spring: Many people put their credit cards in the freezer to keep from using them all the time. Don’t forget about those old credit cards. When you stop using a card, issuers may stop updating the account with credit bureaus, or worse, close down the account altogether. It’s good to use those accounts, at least occasionally, for a small necessary purchase – then they go back in the freezer for another year.

6. Check your credit report: Check your report regularly and take steps, immediately, to dispute discrepancies. Make corrections a top priority. Consumers are entitled to one free report a year, under federal law, at AnnualCreditReport.com. Don’t sign up for a credit monitoring service.

7. Stay knowledgeable: knowledge is your credit power. Stay informed about the interest rates on your cards and remember the key components you control that influence your credit score, including – number of open credit accounts, balances on those accounts, timely payment record, how many cards are ‘maxed out’, whether you rent or own your home, how long you have been using credit.



In recent news there have been many headlines that may spark hope in many people’s lives.  They talk of debt lowering at a staggering pace, and doing so by a significantly larger pace than any other year in recent history.  The problem however, is that debt is lowering at such a rapid pace, because of people defaulting on their debt.  This reduces the debt on average, but shows that its is lowering for the wrong reasons.  Whether it’s credit card debt or mortgages, people are defaulting right and left, and that is a big problem.  This article from Fortune does a great job of explaining this terrible problem.

The ugly reality of lowering debt by default

by Nin-Hai Tseng

FORTUNE — There have been at least a few seemingly positive signs of progress during this anemic economic recovery: U.S. households are spending less. They’re saving more. Debt is steadily falling.

But don’t be fooled by the cheery headlines. The trend toward fiscal discipline might sound uplifting, especially at a time when many have learned all too painfully that they spent too much in the years leading up to the financial crisis. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that even the best economic news is masking something ugly.

It turns out that many households aren’t exactly tightening their wallets and using all their saved cash to pay down debts. They’re simply defaulting on them.

Total household debt fell by $77 billion during the three months ending in June, but nearly half of that decline stemmed from bank charge-offs of residential mortgages, credit cards and other consumer loans, according to Capital Economics Group. In a recent report, the London-based economic research consultancy found that this isn’t necessarily a new development. Household debt has fallen every quarter since the beginning of 2008, leaving it $473 billion below the peak, which is the equivalent of reducing debt at every household by $4,200.

Shedding away debt – however it’s done – is critical to the overall health of the economy. But the wave of households de-leveraging by default is worrisome. And many Americans are using their new savings to buy up U.S. Treasuries instead of devoting it all toward paying down debt. During the past year, households bought 42% of the new Treasury debt issued, equal to about $616 billion and far more than the $432 billion absorbed by foreign investors.

This will probably prolong the de-leveraging process further, say analysts at Capital Economics. Until households can meaningfully shed off debt, it will likely be one of the key factors stalling economic growth and the job market as many companies wait for GDP to pick up significantly before hiring more workers.

Cutting plastic or cutting credit card bills?

The wave of defaults on mortgage loans is no surprise, given the rise in foreclosures and the fall in housing prices. But perhaps even more troublesome is the increase in consumer defaults on credit card debt. It’s been widely reported that debt levels on credit cards have fallen – at one point surprisingly dropping below the level of outstanding student loans, according to an August story in The Wall Street Journal.

But consumers haven’t exactly discovered a newfound sense of frugality. In 2009, outstanding credit card debt dropped by about $93.2 billion compared with the previous year, according to a report from CardHub.com, a credit card comparison website. This might sound like good news, but the reality is that the majority of the drop — $81.6 billion — is due to Americans defaulting on their debt.

So the real decrease is much smaller – about $11.6 billion – and much of that came during the first quarter when many people used tax returns to pay down card debt. At this rate, CardHub.com predicts consumers in 2010 will actually accumulate at least $26.2 billion more in credit card debt over last year.

“It’s alarming,” CardHub.com CEO and founder Odysseas Papadimitriou says. “We cannot revert to pre-recession debt levels.”

Household debt might generally be falling, but at what cost? Those who default, depending on the size of the loan, take sizeable hits to their credit background, which could impact the terms of future loans.

So while consumers’ debt burdens might technically be less today than they were just a few years ago, at least on paper, the burden is still quite heavy on the minds of consumers. 

Credit management is an important piece of the large financial management pie.   However, one service that encompasses all aspects of managing your finances is Mint.com.  Mint.com is probably one of the best things that has happened to personal financial management.   Here is one article taken straight from Mint.com’s blog.  This service and their blog is golden!

Responsible Budgeting, Spending and Credit Use: Mint’s Personal Finance Round-Up

Silicon Valley Blogger on 9/13/2010

Times are still tough, and many of us need an inspiration to start a budget, or to keep working on one.

Some of us also need to change how we spend our money, or take stock of how we use our credit cards. Truth is, a good number of families get into debt because of misusing their credit cards.

For this week’s personal finances roundup, we have eight stories of frugality and budgeting that should get us into thinking about our spending habits.

Back to School Budgeting

With the summer over and the school season upon us once again, Budgets Are The New Black asks how much an average family spends on back-to-school shopping. There is a poll for readers to guess what the average family’s annual spending should be towards school and education. The results are surprising; it may make you think about your own spending for back-to-school “needs.” Our suggestion: if it’s not a dire need, teach your kids to save a little and cut back on some purchases.

Kids and Money

When it comes to teaching your children about money, it’s a good idea to start early. Trent from The Simple Dollar talks about how his son recently bought a toy without throwing a tantrum, and instead worked towards buying the toy he wanted by saving up his allowance and family gifts. An Ode to My Son’s Piggy Bank is an inspiring read for those who wonder about how to begin talking to their kids about personal finance.

Big Life Changes: Adjusting Family Finances

Speaking of family budgets, let’s take a look at an article by Funny About Money, who initiates a thought-provoking discussion called Scraping by on $110,000? The article refers to the common issues faced by a two-income family that’s going through the adjustment of living with a new baby. Here, a wife decides to work part-time in order to take care of her child. Funny About Money looks at how far a six figure income can go and how the cost of living can impact your income requirements. Such life changes can make us rethink the way we spend. It may be a good idea to evaluate our own spending and assess the major “leaks” and the frivolous things we can do without. Also, what are your strategies for maximizing what you’re earning?

Couple’s Money: Joint, Separate, or Both

Along these lines, Punch Debt In The Face shares the story of how he and his wife are working through their recently combined budget in The $100 Discussion. They’re trying to work out how to give each other room to spend on wants and frivolities. They are considering several schemes, including setting a spending cap that each should honor without the need for extra discussion. So should they cap the spend-as-you-like allowance at $100? Or should it be lower? It’s certainly food for thought for couples who have combined their bank accounts.

Responsible Credit-Card Use

If we really think about it, one of the reasons why many of us struggle financially is due to our heavy reliance on credit cards. We become complacent about our expenses and find it easy to spend because we’ve got credit we can use. If you’re of this mindset, using plastic may not be the wisest thing. While credit cards are a useful financial tool, it’s important to learn how to use them responsibly so that you don’t get into trouble. Investor Junkie discusses Responsible Credit Card Use and offers tips on how to deal with credit wisely.

Reigning In Purchases

Speaking of using credit cards responsibly… or not, Living Almost Large reviews the book (and movie) Confessions Of A Shopaholic and concludes that it’s a bit over the top. The question here is — how do you use your credit cards? Do you use them for groceries or emergencies, or to fund shopping sprees? Typically, we incur debt gradually due to unexpected financial hardships and emergencies, although there’s a smaller percentage of people who get into trouble due to a shopping addiction.

So how do you break a shopping addiction? Here’s a tip for shopaholics who enjoy brand name merchandise. It’s a matter of perspective: factory outlets for designer brands carry the same quality wares that you normally expect to buy in department stores, but at a lower price. Yes, there may be some items that will contain a defect or two, but if you choose well, you could walk away with a “perfect” designer original from its factory outlet. You’ll find other frugal tips on fashion in Keeping Clothing Costs Down from Savings.com.

Getting Out of Debt

The Happy Rock shares an inspiring anecdote about a friend who resolves his $40,000 debt in Into Debt And Out Again – Overcoming $40,000 Of Debt. This story will inspire those who are struggling with bills and debt and show them just how they can become debt free again, sharing both the financial mistakes and successes of one individual.

Anyone can live a frugal lifestyle — you just have to put your mind to it. These stories are here to help reaffirm this truth and beef up our resolve to keep our expenses under control.

Silicon Valley Blogger (SVB) runs The Digerati Life and The Smarter Wallet, where she writes about  general personal finance topics such as investing, budgeting, debt management and small business ideas.

Financial trouble can come in many different shapes and sizes.  Often our troubles get multiplied when we allow one to spur on the other.  In this article from WalletPop.com we are asked to stay vigilant and not allow single problems, or smaller problems turn into larger ones.  Often when people face job problems they try and stay afloat by depending on credit to much, which can make an uncomfortable situation become deadly.  Enjoy this article!

Don’t let job trouble turn into credit card trouble

Martha C. White

Despite experts now saying the recession officially ended in June, the job market is still bleak. Many Americans have lost their jobs, had their wages or hours cut or go to work every day praying they don’t come home with a pink slip. While many of us feel powerless about our employment situations, one area where we can — and should — take charge is in our credit card habits before and during a period of unemployment.

Many of us still have the mindset that credit cards are a good fallback if we find ourselves out of work and short on cash to pay for basic living expenses. This is a bad idea for two reasons:

• Jobs are harder to find right now. Even if you’ve been laid off in the past and were able to land on your feet in another position in a matter of weeks, there’s no guarantee that will happen this time. Also, the job you do find might not be close to the old one in terms of salary.
• Many of us have already been over-relying on credit cards since the equity in our homes dried up; and you might already be overextended, which means even a small increase in your use could trigger a drop in your credit limit or an increase in your interest rate (thanks to the CARD Act, any increase wouldn’t apply to your existing balance, at least).

As this article points out, how to handle your credit cards – and debt – will differ depending on your financial situation. WalletPop got in touch with Bryan Schlussel, a certified consumer credit counselor at the nonprofit credit-counseling organization CredAbility in Atlanta, Ga., for some expert advice on how to keep your pink slip from leading to red ink.

“You want to avoid late payments on credit cards,” Schlussel told WalletPop in a phone interview. “The number one thing is to avoid late payments.” As he points out, a growing number of employers take a look at your credit report before hiring you. If you’re out of work and missing payments, that’s going to drag down your score, which — rightly or wrongly – could impact your ability to secure future employment.

If you have a little time before the ax falls, consider yourself lucky. If you have revolving debt or if you don’t have the six months’ worth of living expenses that experts recommend as an emergency fund, there are still a couple actions you can take. Schlussel says the first thing to do is draw up a complete budget and eliminate everything that’s not totally necessary. That should give you a little more each paycheck or each month.

If you have a six-month emergency fund, good for you! Put that extra money toward paying down your credit cards. If you have both debts and no emergency fund, “pay yourself first,” says Schlussel. In other words, keep making the minimum payments, but don’t try to get rid of your balances if it means you’ll have nothing in the bank to live on if your job disappears. Whatever your situation, experts recommend drastically curbing or eliminating the use of your cards to keep your balances from ballooning further.

It can be a temptation to look at credit cards as a fallback, but using them to sustain your current lifestyle after a job loss is a prescription for even bigger problems in the future.

Card 2.0 is the next logical step in personal banking. Half credit card, half futuristic gadget, the cards are as versatile as they are secure. You can tie multiple accounts to the same card or completely hide certain digits of your card number at the push of a button — buttons which are embedded in the card and are as thin as the card itself.

Our editors were hardly surprised to learn yesterday that Dynamics, the startup that makes the cards, won both the first prize and the people’s choice award at DEMO, the startup-centric conference held in Silicon Valley. We saw the company’s founders showing off their creations in the DEMO Pavilion, and we quickly pegged the product as one of the most interesting in this year’s DEMO startup crop.

Winning a startup competition is only a piece of the puzzle; we were more interested to know whether Dynamics and Card 2.0 were likely to be viable as a business and a product.

Cool gadgets are but novelties without widespread distribution. We asked for more information on the business side of things, and CEO Jeff Mullen was able to tell us that Dynamics has been working with several major banks to stealth-test the cards; bank-branded cards will be launching “soon.” Mullen couldn’t disclose exact dates. Still, it’s good to know that forward-looking financial institutions (Bank of America, perhaps?) are already working with Card 2.0 prototypes.

Check out the demo video below, and let us know what you think of Card 2.0.