by Cody Hodge

Created on: June 01, 2010

Are you thinking about applying for a new credit card, or are you a first time applicant for a credit card? Whatever your situation may be, it is always a good thing to know what you are looking for when you choose to get a credit card. Knowing what you need now is going to help you get the right card for you and allow you to manage your credit a lot easier.

The first thing that you need when you are looking into a credit card is the interest rate of the card. Don't get fooled by the introductory APR because that number is going to go up in six months to a year. Look at what the interest rate is because that is how much your money is going to cost you. A credit union can usually offer better rates to more people than a bank can.

Is there an annual fee? Annual fees were almost extinct, but with companies looking for more ways to cash in on your use of credit, these fees have re-emerged. Look at what you are going to be paying every year simply to be a holder of that card and what you are going to have to pay regardless of how much you use your card each month or year.

Don't get too carried away with rewards and other goods that might come with your card. It might be nice to accrue points, but you have to make sure you are using your cards in a responsible way. Also note that those airline miles or other perks might expire, so unless you a racking up a lot of charges you shouldn't use your cards for rewards due to frivolous purchases.

Know what you are using your card for. This is what makes all these perks and interest rates and other fees so important. You might not mind a higher APR if you are using the card sporadically because you might get a higher limit, but you might want to just establish your credit so a lower APR and a lower limit from a credit union is going to work better for you so you can make more charges. Always make sure to pay off as much as possible each month.

Credit cards are not toys, they are objects to use with the proper responsibility of managing you money. Credit cards are simply loans that have to be repaid each month, so don't do things that are going to force you to spend more money than you need to.

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