How To Get The Best Credit Card?

Different people have different needs. Depending on who you are and your circumstances, the best credit card deal for you will vary. I will take you through the things you should be looking for, but for the best current deals I suggest you check Money Savings Expert regularly (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com).

Credit cards allow you to spend a certain amount of money at an interest rate that will be charged every month. The spending amount that is available to you can be seen differently. Some see it as an additional amount to spend, some see it as a risk-free' borrowing opportunity. Credit card spending is not a free' spending opportunity, as you will need to pay this money back. This money does not work like a loan, as the amount available to you is not all cash. However, it can be treated as a loan' and this concept will be explained later.

Other very important concepts that have to be understood before getting a credit card, is 0% offers. There are two kinds of 0% offers: on purchases and on balance transfers. The first one allows you to spend the money provided to you by the credit card without paying any interest for a certain amount of time. So, for example, if the credit card gives you a limit of 500 for three months, then you can spend 500 against this credit card and not be charged interest for the first three months since the credit card was opened. However, once this period of time expires, you will be charged the credit card interest rate. This interest differs depending on the credit card, so if you intend to pay this interest, then you ought to look for the lowest interest rate available. Paying interest can be avoided, unless you have already overspent too much and are using credit cards to pay off other credit card interest. In this case you should call some of the debt consolidation companies and try to get some your credit card debt written off. Another reason why you might be in the position of paying interest is because you forgot when your 0% free time' ended. If this is the case, you will be informed about this with your first bank statement. Transfer your balance to a different bank or pay the debt off and avoid any further interest payments.

For those of you who don't have interest payments, you can take advantage of the 0% purchasing and make some money. You need a good credit history record to make this work and you also need to be disciplined. The easiest method is to do all of your normal spending against the credit card, while putting the money that is coming in into an interest-earning savings account. For example, if your credit card company lets you borrow 2,000, and you have 1,000 coming in as a salary every month, then put the 1,000 into a savings account and do all of your purchasing with a credit card. There are a few things to watch out for: credit card companies will charge you for cash withdrawals; your cash limit is much lower then the full available credit; and choose a savings account from which you can withdraw easily. At the end of the 0% purchase period, you will need to return all the money that you have spent against your credit card. You should have that amount available in the savings account by then, plus interest. The interest gained is your earnings for this transaction. You can earn even more if you chose a credit card with a cashback deal. This deal will pay you interest on all of your purchases made with the card. However, you should remember, that this is a money-making technique, rather then a spend more' opportunity. There is a more complicated trick of making money from credit cards, details of which are outlined by Money Saving Expert (2006).

If you are making money from the credit cards, there is no need for you to get card protection insurance, as you should have enough money to pay off the credit card debt at any time. At the end of the 0% purchasing period, you can also transfer the balance to a different card provider. This is known as 0% balance transfer, but you will be charged a fee for these transactions, usually around 2%. However, these fees vary, so you need to check the conditions. There are a few things to watch out for: the credit limit offered by your bank also includes your purchases. For example, if the new credit card offers you a 2,000 limit, with 0% balance transfer for 12 months and 0% on purchases for three months, and you have transferred 1,500 from your old credit card, you only have 500 to spend on this credit card. The second thing to watch out for is your credit score. "Most lenders' scoring systems aren't sophisticated enough to detect that you're playing this free-cash game. Yet multiple applications, especially at the same time, coupled with high outstanding debts, even at 0%, will diminish your ability to get competitive credit, so the most important thing is to spread card applications out" (Money Savings Expert, 2006).

However, if you are in the position where you are already fighting the interest payments, as has been mentioned before, the best thing to do is to call debt consolidation experts. In any circumstances it is best to pay off the most expensive credit and store cards first (i.e the ones that charge the highest interest rates). Furthermore, avoid opening any new credit cards to pay off the debt. Instead transfer your high-interest debt to lower interest rate credit cards. For example, if your credit card interest rate is 16%, while your store card rate is 25% per month, transfer the store card balance over to the credit card.

Whatever your circumstances, when you do open a new credit card always look for the longest 0% balance transfer and 0% purchase period, lowest transfer fee and interest rate charged afterwards. The limit offered to you will not only depend on your salary and credit rating, but also on the company that you go with.

Finally, do not forget don't play the credit card game if you cannot control it or have a high debt already.

References

Money Savings Experts 2006 "Card Trick" [Available from]: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1076883546,34894 (Accessed on: 10/11/06)

Money Savings Experts 2006 "Card Card Shuffle" [Available from]: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1102335753,51771 (Accessed on: 10/11/06)

Money Savings Experts 2006 "Credit Card Newbie MoneySavers Guide" [Available from]: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1103212597,43859, (Accessed on: 10/11/06)

Copyright © 2006 Verena Veneeva

This article was written by Verena Veneeva professional writer working for http://www.coursework4you.co.uk

8 Top Tips for Becoming a Professional Gambler in Horse Racing, Poker and Other Sports

Most folk are under the opinion that professional gamblers have one bet, play one game of poker, or some other form of gambling, and then collect the winnings and go back to their big mansion for a few months rest, before having another gamble!!

I pray it was like that, but in valid life it is vastly different. I personally work 10-12 hours a day, 360 days a year, and still do a bit on the days off, including Christmas day. When you see professional poker players they are spending 3-5 days at a table in a game every week, sometimes sitting for 12 hours, and when they are not doing that, they are at home playing poker on the computer.

So if you are looking for a relaxing life, do not take up betting as a profession. Yes it can pay well, very well, but you need to put in a lot of work, and it can be 2-3 years before you are making any meaningful hard cash. Anyone who tells you otherwise is possibly lying just to receive your hard cash.

When you see tipping advertisers stating things like "We made $26,000 to $100 stakes in the last 12 months", it looks sensational. However, they need to receive your attention as a 1/8th ad in a paper costs around $500, and they need that money back before turning a profit. And how innumerable average gamblers have $100 to bet, especially when you need a betting bank, and with $100 stakes, the cash you need before you even place one bet is around $3,500, any less and you can easily blow it all. Then divide the $26,000 by the $100 to work out how many points you make a year, and that is 260, then divide by 52 to see how numerous points profit a week, and that comes to 5pts a week. Wow!! If you are just starting off you are likely to only be using a realistic $5, so that is $25 a week average. That may not sound much but you have to learn to walk before you can run. If you cannot profit with 10c bets, how the hell will you profit with $100 bets?

Also think why various tipsters advertise every day. This is because they have such a considerable turnover; they need to keep replenishing the customer base. This does not always mean the tipster is rubbish, in some cases they may be profitable long term, but the average Joe Punter always wants profit NOW and every day, and average Joe points more than 5 points per week, whereas a full time professional would be happy with that.

If you are going to gamble to profit, then for the inaugural few months this should be your conditioning were you will be doing a lot of work for little return, but you will also learn how to handle losing runs, how to cope with mistakes, and if it does all go improper and you lose the betting bank, you should have learnt a lot from it for as little loss as possible, as you should only ever bet what you can afford to lose, especially while proving to yourself you can profit. You may have a spare $10,000 available, but prove you can profit with a $1000 bank maiden, and then add to the bank monthly.

So here are the 8 tips you need to learn, and stick to religiously if you want to stand a chance of ever making money from gambling.

1. Patience: If you want big profits now, try the lottery. Building up you betting banks takes time a lot of time.

2. Betting Banks: If you do not have a betting bank to emergence with, and you are just betting from whatever is in your pocket, you will never make a profit. It is as simple as that. Most punters lie to themselves that they are breaking even. Do not do that, be truthful.

3. Staking: You see betting plans for sale on EBay, most of them may make you a few dollars quickly, but it is 100% guaranteed they will bust your bank as these are designed by amateurs who have no understanding of gambling maths in the real world. Always onset with levels, if you cannot make hard cash with that simple staking plan you will not make bankroll with anything more complicated. Once you have proven over a few months you can turn a profit with level stakes, and then you can switch to each bet being between 1%-3% of the bank. Most professionals will emergence at 3%, but get it down to 1% as the bank grows.

4. Bank Management: Managing banks is not just staking, it also involves listing every bet on a spreadsheet so you can monitor things like average odds, strike rate, losing runs, etc. If you do not list every bet, you will have no idea where you stand, and no way of having data to look back and learn from.

5. Risk Management: Most people follow one tipster, or one system. This is usually suicide, you do not see the big boys in the city markets investing everything in one stock do you? No. They spread it around, and so should you. Use a number of systems, proven tipsters, method bets, etc. And ensure you have a separate betting bank for each (you can use the same betting account, as the spreadsheets you keep will tell you the amount which is in each bank).

6. Alcohol: NEVER drink while betting, you will bet more than you should, you will bust banks, you will play bets you would never do when sober.

7. Forums: Join a forum where you can bite ideas, this can prove a powerful aid, but make sure it is a decent one, and not full of idiots just spouting off how good they are!

8. Fun Bets: You are often told not to do any 'fun bets' if you wish to turn professional, but this will not happen, as it is hard to break old habits at first. The best way to treat fun bets is to handle them as you would any pro bets. Separate betting bank, list all bets, and it will not be long before you lose the bank and realise how wonderful your own tipping is!

This advice goes for betting in any country, on horseracing, greyhounds, soccer, NFL, poker, etc.

You can also find innumerable free horse racing systems, staking systems, poker systems, on the internet, ignore them, they are only free for a reason, as they lose hard cash.

These days it is possible to receive horseracing software, poker software, etc that can facilitate you, they will only make you hard cash if you are already doing so, they just enhance your skills, not make them. Search the web for reviews on every product before parting with any money; ask people on forums which software is the best.

Keith Driscoll has been a professional gambler since the late nineties, and now runs many sites, forums and blogs as Managing Director of Win2Win Limited. You can visit my site at http://www.win2win.co.uk Free Horse Racing Tips

Keeping Dogs off Furniture: What are Your Doggy Rules?

In general, you need to decide what kind of house you want to live in and what doggy rules are the most important ones. For example, if your dog seems temperamental around young children, you will want to focus on this first before worrying about the furniture. Its often a good idea to have no go zones for your dog too. This not only gives you a place where you can put your valuable or vulnerable stuff, but also reminds the dog that this is your territory, first and foremost.

You also have to realize that the second you walk out that door, they may go over to your leather couch, lie on it all day, and hop off just as you get home. Smart ones will even vacuum the dog hair off. Youll never know they were there. Unless these areas are restricted, your dog will naturally want to recline in luxury. You would too, which is why you bought the leather couch. If its not convenient to block access to an entire room, it might be possible to obstruct the item of furniture itself. You might put a few folding chairs on top of it when youre gone, anything that makes the item undesirable (tacks are not an option).

Of course, there are simple ways to train your dog to jump up on furniture, jump off of furniture, or avoid your furniture altogether. They will obviously want to hop up on the soft, warm spot, so if theyre allowed to, make them Wait, Sit, and then Up while patting the cushion will do the trick of letting them know they need to wait for an invitation. Off with a quick snap of the fingers or a clap will do the opposite, but you may need to physically encourage this response at first. If you do, taking them by the collar and pulling is the common way but its not the best, and they can easily resist.

Instead, try sliding your hand behind them, at their lower back or rear end, so in effect you create a wedge that lifts them slightly off their seat and gradually pushes them toward the floor. All the while, repeat the Off or Down command. This not only sends the message but makes their soft and comfortable seat uncomfortable, and theyll want to bail out.

The same will do the trick for a dog who is not allowed on furniture. Remember not to yell or severely push or pull your dog for sitting in a comfortable place. They will be much more willing to respect your wishes if you dont. As always, the key is in repetition. It wont take too long before they realize its not worth the effort.

Finally, make sure they have a decent option (which a hardwood floor in winter is not). No shame having a day bed for your dog out in the lounge. Even though they no longer have to sleep all day to save up enough energy for the big hunt, as their ancestors did, most are still quite happy to keep doing just that.

Martin Olliver is a proud member of the Kingdom of Pets team (http://www.kingdomofpets.com). For more great articles about dogs on furniture, visit: http://kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/articles/dog_jumping_up.php