American Express

Last evening, I decided to apply for yet another credit card. I’ve never owned an American Express card and figured it was about time that I get one for myself. Everyone seems to have wonderful things to say about them and the commercials always seem convincing. And so, I embarked on my online journey to find an American Express card that would be ideal for me. Little did I know that American Express has a million different types of cards to choose from. Okay, perhaps not a million – but a lot more than I was prepared to review. Some have annual fees; others don’t. Some of them have unlimited spending and others will only extend you a certain amount of credit. Some of them have all kinds of different reward programs that you can choose from as well. You can pick from lots of different designs as well.

I never knew that choosing a credit card could be so difficult. Heck, I never knew that American Express had so many different types of cards to choose from either. I spent almost an hour reading over all of the offers from all of the types of cards that American Express apparently owns. I finally decided on one that has a great balance transfer plan. The standard interest rates seemed a bit high to me but I had accepted an offer for a very low rate for the first year. After that first year, the interest rate would rise. I knew that either I would only use my card for emergencies after that happens or cancel it. These days, people hop back and forth between credit card companies like crazy, trying to get the best deals and bargains. American Express seems to be interested in competing to get more customers as well. I’m not quite sure why you should have to pay an annual fee, but American Express seems to have quite a few cards that will require payment of one. I can understand why if it is for a business and they don’t cap the spending limit. But, I can’t see a point for charging an annual fee for a personal card that has limited spending. Afterall, they’re getting plenty of extra payments from the interest rates. However, I don’t own a credit card company and I cannot speak on their behalf. I simply know that I now own an American Express card and if I can actually believe what I see on television, they are accepted almost everywhere. I’m quite sure that for my first year of having that low interest rate, I will test that out quite a bit.

Debt Consolidation Companies

Back when I was in college, I made the mistake of signing up for as many credit card offers as I could find. There were always a bunch of sales reps outside of football games and other big events, and the lure of free swag like t-shirts, hats, water bottles, and even MP3 players was simply too enticing to pass up.

Then once I received the credit cards, I started using them to finance a lifestyle I couldn’t afford. Before I knew it, I owed thousands of dollars, and my minimum payments were barely making a dent in the interest charges. This went on for a couple of years before I decided to try consolidating all of my bills into a lower monthly payment.

I talked to a credit counselor about my situation, and she was able to give me the names of a few debt consolidation companies that could assist me. Debt consolidation companies specialize in helping people pay off their bills and get back on their feet through a variety of solutions that can be tailored to fit their specific financial circumstances. I was in so deep at the time that I had nothing to lose by checking out my options.

I went to two different debt consolidation companies to get some input on my situation. At the first debt consolidation company I visited, I was told that a loan would be my best bet. I could then use the loan to pay off my bills, and since the loan would carry a lower interest rate than my credit cards, I’d be saving money in the long run. That sounded like a logical strategy, but since I would still be stuck paying off that loan for the next several years, my situation wouldn’t change all that much.

The second debt consolidation company I went to offered me a much better solution. Instead of just trying to patch my problems up with a quick loan, they seemed sincerely interested in helping me repair my finances. They were willing to call my creditors to negotiate lower payments, and then they wanted to help me set up a budget to see precisely how much money I could devote to paying off my bills. After that, they looked at ways to help me make up the difference.

Together, we settled on a repayment plan that I could live with, and the debt consolidation company continued to monitor my progress to ensure success.

Finally, after many years of hard work and strict adherence to my budget, I am now completely debt-free. I couldn’t have done it on my own, however, so I’m glad that I was able to find good debt consolidation companies to lend me a hand.