Credit Cards

Have you ever wondered why you use money in a particular way? For example, maybe you’re the type of person who overanalyzes every purchase even though you have plenty in savings. Or maybe you can’t seem to say no to your teenager’s request for a new computer when you’re losing sleep over the amount of your credit card debt. Many people find themselves stuck in an illogical pattern with money, but why?

It’s what’s known as your money personality, or a powerful set of ideas formed early in a person’s life that govern spending, giving and investment decisions.

Ever chosen to take the plunge with an “introductory” or “trial” offer only to have a hard time canceling the service? Worse yet, ever signed up for a trial offer or subscription with your credit card only to keep having it charged even when you didn’t want the service anymore?

We’re not saying all trial offers are bad. Actually, they can be very useful. For example, trial offers usually allow access to a product or service for free or at a reduced cost. This gives you a chance to see how well you like the product. And obviously, the merchant hopes you like the product enough to make future purchases.

As you may have heard, The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 was passed in May to provide additional credit protection for consumers. While many of the new provisions will go into effect in February 2010, there are some changes you’ll notice before then.

Part of this new legislation specifies that creditors, including Vantage, must give consumers clear disclosures of account terms before the opening of an account, and clear statements of account activity afterwards.

The last time you were at your parents’ home, you discovered unpaid bills. They had forgotten to pay their gas bill for the past two months. You called the gas company and explained the situation, and then wrote out a check for the amount due, so everything turned out all right. But what if you hadn’t noticed the unpaid bills, and it was the middle of winter? Your parents’ heating could have been shut off.