Live Cheap, Save Big

This is a guest post by foXnoMad, who writes on a wide variety of travel-related topics and looks to save you time and money when doing so:

All credit card based purchases made with your checking account ING card (select credit instead of debit) will get you 1% back, placed in your account each month.

If you don’t have ING, get referred by someone who does and have $25 placed in your account. Select credit on all purchases and get 1% on all online purchases made - up to $500. That equals $5.

If you’ll be spending money anyway, get some cash back. Plus you’ll earn 4.25% annual interest on your checking account and savings. Transferring between ING accounts is instant and you can move money from your existing bank account back and forth for no extra charge.

Via Consumer Reports:

The card issuers that scored exceptionally well in our Ratings–USAA Federal Savings, the Navy Federal Credit Union, and a group of other credit unions–also charged median interest rates between 9 and 11 percent, compared with the 17 percent imposed by the two issuers at the bottom of the Ratings.

USAA Federal Savings, which issues American Express- and MasterCardbranded cards, earned a reader score of 95 out of a possible 100. That’s one of the highest scores we have seen in recent years. The Navy Federal Credit Union, which offers MasterCard and Visa, was also very highly rated by our readers, as were the other credit unions.

The survey, which was based on the experiences of over 36,000 readers with over 61,000 banks, found that credit unions offered the lowest rates since they are run by members who have a vested interest in making their customers happy. Some of the biggest and more well-known banks earned the lowest scores in the ratings, as their primary concern is keeping their investors happy. Something to consider next time you’re thinking about opening a credit card with a big-name bank.

Until recently, I was paying at least $100 a month in interest on my credit card balance (which has an APR of 18%). By transferring the majority of my balance to another credit card which offered 12 months interest-free and no balance transfer fee, I am saving $85.50 a month in interest which comes to $1026 for the year. If you want to reduce your debt and cut your interest charges dramatically, I highly recommend transferring your credit card balance. If you pay off the balance during the interest-free period you will save a lot of money. If you can’t be disciplined with the payments and plan on using the new credit card to make purchases, I would not suggest transferring your balance.

Ultimately I decided on a Discover Card for several reasons: (more…)

A nice little crash course [via MSN] in protecting your credit score, keeping low interest rates, and general guidelines on maintaining a low balance.

Don’t exceed 30% of your credit limit. Credit bureaus don’t care if you pay off your balance each month. They’re interested in how much of your available credit you use. If it’s excessive, your credit score will drop.

Also, don’t forget to keep your balances on 0% interest cards using transfers - or better yet, don’t use a credit card in the first place.