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College Team cards- You can get almost any team’s logo on a credit card. Imagine the conversations you can start if you are in Michigan and you use The Ohio State University card! Be careful though, you could be run out of town.

Professional football Teams- You can get any of the 33 professional football teams colors and logo on a credit card. When you use it people will have no doubt that you are a loyal fan. You might just strike up a conversation with someone who loves the team just as much as you do.

There are many available credit cards out there for any sport lover. You can also get one for NASCAR, Major League Baseball, the Professional Golf Association, and Bass Pro just to name a few.

If you are not partial to sports, don’t worry. I am sure you can find a card that represents you perfectly. They have cards for the animal lover or cards that help certain charities or causes.

You can get tons of credit cards with wildlife on them. They have cards with anything from lions to dolphins on them. You can get “save the manatees” or “save the sea lions” these cards always start a conversation, as most of the animals on the cards are adorable.

If you are a dog lover, you can find any breed of dog you like and get it on a credit card. When you are shopping and people see the type of dog that you have that will give you plenty of opportunity to brag about just exactly how smart your beloved pet is.

Many cards are available to show off your patriotisms. There are many cards that have the stars and stripes on them. You can also chose one with the American Bald Eagle on it. So you can show your love for your country with a credit card.

There are lots of cards out there that help you to promote a cause. One example is a breast cancer awareness credit card. There is also save the wilderness or one for animal shelters. You can bring awareness to diabetes, and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Each time you use these credit cards the companies also will make a donation to the cause at no extra cost to you.

When you use specialty credit cards you not only convey what you are passionate about but you can also use them toward specific rewards. You can bring awareness to anything that is near and dear to you. Check out the terms and see just what kind of incentives they offer.

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This becomes very discouraging because when you receive your next month’s statement and you realize that you are making very little progress in paying down the balance. Most of a minimum payment amount goes towards the interest, and not toward the principle amount.

There are several ways to get yourself out of credit card debt faster and more effectively. This will save you time and money and cut out the stress associated with excessive debt.

Negotiate-If you have a good credit rating, negotiate your interest rate with your credit card companies. If you are a good customer, they will not want to lose your business and will make the necessary adjustments to keep it. This can be done more easily with major credit card companies like MasterCard or Visa. Department store cards are almost impossible to talk down any.

Consolidate-Once you negotiate a better rate consolidate as much debt as you possible can on to that card. Take all those department store cards and pay them off. They always have an outrageously high interest rate.

Pay as Much as Possible – When you receive the statement for the card that you consolidated all your debt to pay as much over the minimum as you can possible afford.

This will help you lower the principle amount much quicker, which will save you lots of money.

The above tips are for people who owe some monies but are not in really serious debt. If you owe a substantial amount of credit card debt, say getting upwards of 20 to 30 thousand dollars you will need much more help than those tips above.

Home Equity Loan- This is the quickest and easiest way for you to eliminate all of your credit card debt. Using the equity in your home to consolidate all the high interest credit card will help you immensely and immediately. You will save hundreds of dollars every month. Many banks offer these loans without any closing fees so you really can’t go wrong.

Professional Help- If you have tried all the tips above and you are still not making any headway on your own considers a debt professional. They can work with your lenders and help you to set up payment plans at lower interest rates. They will also help you fix the underlying problems that got you into this situation.

Those are a few tips to get out of credit card debt faster. The stress that you will eliminate is well worth the little bit of time and energy it takes to make some changes. It will also help you save money each month.

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Shred Everything- Every credit card advertisements you receive in the mail should be shredded. But they are not the only things you should shred. Anything that has your name and address on it should also be shredded. Don’t forget to shred the labels on magazines you receive, they often have your account numbers printed on them.

Check Your Credit Report- The federal government has passed a law that allows you to receive a free credit report for each of the three credit bureaus once a year. Though this is a good start I believe you should go ahead a check it every three months even though you have to pay for the additional checks yourself. A lot of damage can be done very quickly.

Credit Monitoring Services-There is a lot of companies that you can sign up with that will monitor your credit report for you. They will give you notices, usually through emails that notify you if there are any changes to your report, like someone pulling your credit report, or changing your address. There is a monthly fee associated with these services.

Opt Out Option- If you look at the back of any credit card offer that you receive, you will see there is an opt out option you can sign up for. What this does is notifies the three credit bureaus that you are no longer interested in receiving these types of offers in the mail. It is fast and easy to do and you can either opt out for life or for just five years. It takes a few weeks before you see a complete reduction in your offers. This is very helpful as you will have less mail to shred and no one can steal the offers out of your mailbox.

Freeze Your Credit-This option is not available in all states yet, but what it does is puts a complete freeze on your credit report. No one will be able to run a credit check on you-period. The only down fall to this option is if you need to have a credit check you will have to notify them in advance to unfreeze your report. There is also a small fee for each time you freeze and unfreeze your report.

If you become a victim of identify theft, it can be devastating. It will literally take years to fix the damage done by the thieves. Hopefully, these tips will be very useful for you. And remember the old adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

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You may not realize the far reaching effects that declaring bankruptcy will have on your life. Your credit report will be affected for at least 10 years. Your car insurance will go up, they will now see you as a high risk for non-payment. You may no longer be able to buy homeowners insurance; many companies just will not write a policy to you. Many employers whether fair or not, will not hire new employees with bad credit histories; they feel it shows them that you are unreliable.

The laws have also change about being able to declare bankruptcy. The standards you must meet before being eligible are set much higher. The federal government made and passed the stricter standards for filing.

Once you have determined that this is the best option for you, you will need to hire an attorney to help you through the quagmire of laws and options. Get an attorney that specializes in bankruptcy law, they will know all the ins and outs of the law. Shop around and get the best attorney for the money you have to spend. Make sure that you take every record of every debt that you owe with you to the meeting; you do not want to leave out any creditor when you file.

They will also help you to determine which type of bankruptcy is the best option for you. There are two types: liquidation, and rehabilitation:

With liquidation, also referred to as Chapter 7 your assets will be seized and auctioned off to pay your creditors. The proceeds from the sale will be split among your creditor to pay off the amount your debts.

The rehabilitation type is known as Chapter 11, 12 or 13. They take all your debts and make offers to your creditors for you to pay back a portion of the debt on a monthly schedule. For instance if you owe $10,000 on a credit card you might offer to pay twenty-five cents on each dollar of debt, making the bill you now owe them $2500. You will then make monthly payment through your attorney’s office. Once you have completed the process you will get a bankruptcy release.

Make sure you have weighed out all the pros and cons before you decided that bankruptcy is your best and only course of action to take. It will take a long time to fix your credit score but hopefully the stress from being in that type of financial situation will be substantially relieved.

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The interest rates that you qualify for will depend on your credit worthiness. This simply means what type of risk are you to the credit card company. Do you pay your bills on time; are you making enough money to cover your outstanding credit responsibilities?

If you are regularly late or considered what the industry refers to as a “slow pay”, your interest rates are going to be higher. That means, if they have a low teaser interest rate, you are not going to qualify for it. They mean it when they say, “not all applicants will qualify for the lowest rates.” On the other hand, if your credit reports shows that you are a good risk, paying on time consistently and are not over extended, you will definitely qualify for the introductory rates.

If you have a good credit rating, you have the upper hand on negotiating with credit card companies for the best available interest rates. If your credit is less than stellar, you may not get the lowest rate available but it is just as important to comparison shop before you accept an offer.

Remember when you are comparing interest rates do not let every company you are speaking with run a credit report. Make sure you specifically ask them if they are running a full credit report. If they say “yes,” tell them no. Having a bunch of credit request showing on your report makes your credit score go down dramatically.

Once you have compared interest and you have narrowed it down to one or two cards, make sure you understand the terms of the offered interest rates. For instance, you might secure an interest rate at 8.99%, what happens if you are late? Usually the interest rate goes up dramatically.

Being late once, and they do not care if it is by two hours, may raise your rate to about 15%. Still not a horrible rate but it sure is not as good as your initial rate. Ask them what happens if you are late more than once. Most companies have policy in effect that if you are late more that once in a twelve-month period, they will raise your rate so high you won’t believe it. Many get up there into the 30% bracket.

So, when you are comparing interest rates for credit cards, use your credit score to secure the very best rate you can possible get. Once you have it secured, make sure you always pay on time. Make sure you read and understand all terms and conditions of the card. By getting the best rate possible, you can literately save yourself hundreds of dollars a year.

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The unfortunate thing is that once some one has stolen your identity, it is going to take you a lot of time and energy to fix it. There will also be some minor expenses involved in getting your credit report fixed.

First, run a copy of your credit report from all three reporting agencies. Check it thoroughly. Make sure you can identify every item on the report. If there are any newly opened credit card accounts that you know are not yours, call the creditor immediately.

Cancel and close every account that is not yours. Make sure, when you are talking to the credit card companies, that you take careful notes. Write down every person you speak to, the time you spoke to them and a summary of the conversation. Also ask for and keep a confirmation number for the conversation.

Once you have closed all the open accounts, freeze your credit report. Many states offer you the ability to completely freeze your credit. That means that absolutely no one can inquire about your credit history. There is a fee that each credit bureau charges but it will stop the thieves in their tracks. They will no longer have access to your credit.

The next step is where it becomes difficult. You need to get the credit card companies to remove the accounts from your credit report. Believe me, they are not going to go out of their way to help you. As far as they are concerned, you are guilty until you prove yourself otherwise.

You will need to collect all the information that you possible can to prove that you are not the person that opened the accounts and you did not authorize anyone else to do it for you. Make sure that you are still taking excellent notes. If you need to mail documentation, make sure you keep a copy for your records and send them certified so that someone has to sign for the documents. Also send it to the attention of someone. That way you know who is supposed to receive the correspondences.

If they are responding to you through email, make sure you print out both the inquires that you send and their responses to you. Do not trust them to remember what they have told you, make sure you have the “reminders” for them.

Hopefully, these tips will get you started in the right direction to fixing your credit report after becoming a victim of identity theft. If caught early, the damage will hopefully be minimized. Remember you are the only one that has your best interest at heart.

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The first thing you should do is get a credit report and find out exactly what is on that report. Look at every account. Check to see if there are any accounts in good standing. If you have a few accounts, or even one for that matter, that is still in good standing, keep it that way.

Being able to keep a few accounts will help to keep your credit score from completely bottoming out. So keep those accounts current at all cost. If, on the other hand, there are no accounts in good standing, don’t worry, you can still fix it, it is just going to take a little longer.

The worse thing you can do once you know you have lost control of your credit score is to ignore the problem. The sooner you start to fixing it, the better off you will be. Just because you aren’t paying the bills, doesn’t mean your creditors have forgot about you.

They are now in the process of raising your interest rates, and slamming you with late fees. So time is literately money when dealing with creditors. If you continue to ignore them, they will eventually send your account over to a collection agency and they will hound you continuously.

So call each of your creditors and explain your current situation. Many will work with you by lowering your interest rates and no longer adding late fees to your balance. They will try to get a commitment of as much money as they can from you each month. But do not let them push you into promising more money than you can actually send. If you have figured out they can each have $20.00 a month, so be it.

If on your own you are having no luck getting anywhere with them, you can seek out companies that specialize in dealing with them. They are experienced and usually have built a connection with someone at each credit card company that will work with them. They know the ins and outs of the business.

So, to rebuild your credit first clean up the messes on your report the best you can. Then cut up all credit cards except one major credit card, if you have it. Then make sure that you keep all your bills current. Do not apply for any new credit cards for a least two years, this gives your previous applications for credit time to “fall off” your credit report.

Once you start to get back on track, take a small loan out using cash as your collateral with your bank, say for $200. Pay it back on the terms set up on the loan. As you keep doing this, your credit rating will slowly improve.

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Most of the major credit card companies, like MasterCard or American Express, offer credit cards that will allow you to accumulate points that can be turned into airfare or hotel stays.

If you are really savvy, you can find a credit card that offers both hotel rewards and airfare. Wouldn’t that be great? Getting free air travel and paying for your hotel stay. That will give you the chance to spend your money on more important things like trying the local restaurants.

Unlike a few years back, you can actually use the frequent flyer miles. Many people got frustrated with the programs because when they went to use the miles they earned to actually travel, they were turned down. There were many dates that were blacked out and if you wanted to travel near a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas, you could forget about it. So check the company to find out how easy it is to redeem the miles before you actually get their card.

Most purchases you make on either card will go towards your rewards. But purchases such as gas are not usually included, so check carefully be for using your card to buy things that do not give you points.

A lot of cards offer extra incentives during the year. If you can take advantage to them, make sure you do. For example when you first get the card they may give you an extra 5,000 miles or points for your first purchase. Then they have offers of double points if you transfer balances from other cards. So read the advertising enclosed with your statements you never know what they might offer.

To earn lots of points more quickly charge everything that you would normally write a check for on to your card. Like paying your cable bill, or to get some larger amounts charge your car insurance bill. Just make sure you pay them off every month otherwise you defeat the purpose by having to pay a lot of interest.

So if you want to take advantage of the incentives of frequent flyer miles or hotel rewards read all the terms of your credit card. Not all of your purchases will qualify. But this is a great way for travelers to enjoy free airfare and hotel stays that gives you the freedom to spend your money on more fun things like souvenirs.

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Cash rebates offers with credit cards vary depending on the company. Most offer between 1% to 5% cash back on qualifying purchases. That means that during the year if you spend $20,000 on your card you could earn up to a $1000 back. Make sure you read the terms, though, because many have a cap on how much you can actually earn back. The key to really taking advantage of this option is not to carry a balance and give all your rewards back in interest.

Many people I know save the cash back money and use it to take their yearly vacations. If you are not carrying a large balance on your credit cards and losing it on interest, you will actually be taking your vacation on them. And if you have $1000 to travel with, you can have one heck of a vacation

I personally prefer using cards that offer merchandise for your purchases. Usually you will receive one point for every dollar you spend. Then once you accumulate a certain total you can choose some merchandise. Many of them offer an online catalog to shop from. The credit card companies offer the merchandise in tiers. For instance, you might be able to get a $50 dollar gift certificate for 5000 points, but for 100,000 points you have the option of getting a high-tech outdoor BBQ grill.

I use the merchandise points I accumulate for gifts throughout the year. Especially for last minute Christmas gifts. Everyone likes a gift certificate, so there is a quick and easy gift idea.

I know many people who have learned to maximize these rewards to the fullest. For example, you are use to just writing a check to pay for your utilities every month. Instead, just use the credit card to pay them, and just pay it off each month. It is not an added expense; you are just changing whom you write the check to. They also pay things like their homeowners policies on them and if you can, another big point gainer is paying your property taxes on them. You then can add a lot of everyday purchases and get your point totals very high.

So decide which type of reward program is best for you. You may want the cash rebate over the merchandise. Either way, make sure that you actually get to benefit from them. Check all the terms of your credit card, not all purchases you make will qualify for points or the cash rebate options.

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