Handling your credit & your credit cards

Online shopping is happening now more than ever before, and those credit cards are getting a work out because of it!

Taking time to review your budget is a great way to stay on top of what's inside your wallet. Understand your credit tolerance, spending habits and what having and using all these cards with their nice incentives does for your personal credit score and finances overall.

We at the Financial Diva are always here to help you with building, evaluating and re-evaluating your budget, planning for the now, and planning for the future.

We have some great articles to share about understanding credit and credit card management. Contact us any time to arrange for a virtual meeting or phone call.

How Many Cards?

A credit card is the easiest way to begin building up your personal credit, however, maintaining a wallet full of various credit cards could lead to a lower credit score if you can't keep track of usage.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/money/credit-cards/how-many-credit-cards-should-you-have/

Cancelling Credit Cards & Signing up for Bonus offers

The incentives are attractive by many major credit cards to have their particular card make its way into your wallet. Free for a year, bonus offers, low-to-no interest for a year all usually come with an annual fee after the honeymoon period is over. Be sure you understand what those rates are, and know that if you only signed up for the incentive, you're still on the hook for that annual fee.

https://www.cnbc.com/select/canceling-your-credit-card-after-incentive-ends/

Credit Bureau Inquiries

Understanding how your credit is reviewed on bureau reports can be confusing. A hard inquiry is done by any lender (car loan, mortgage etc) to determine how credit-worthy you are and to review your debt tolerance. If you see a hard inquiry on your report, it is because you have requested a loan or funding within the last 2 years. Read more here about what a hard inquiry does to your overall credit score.

https://www.cnbc.com/select/hard-inquiries-credit-score/