My Credit Card Choice

A group of us got together and did some research on credit cards to see which card was the best. We found one card each that we thought was exceptional and then made a decision as to which was the best of the four. We looked at MasterCard, Visa, Chase Slate, and Capitol One. In the end, we decided that the Chase Slate card was the best way to go.


Chase card had a longer Introductory Period of 15 months compared to the usual 12, for 0% APR. Chase also had the better APR after introductory of 13.99%. There was also a range for the Late Fees, where as other cards just charge a steady amount for being late. The card that we chose also offers 'Blue Print Features' which helps to pay balances faster and to save on interest. Chase Slate also had the lowest balance transfer fees.


We felt that Chase was definitely the best choice of credit card. It will help in the long run, especially if one makes a mistake on paying, charging, ect. The other cards did have decent options and opportunities but Chase beats all.


What's your opinion on credit cards? Do you think there's a better one than Chase Slate?

What I've Learned About Credit

Anne is a soon-to-be freshman in college. She, like all of the other students, is getting bombarded with credit application opportunities. She was warned to just say no to a credit card, but she's having second thoughts. She's found one that she's interested in, but is unsure if she would like to go for it or not. Anne decides to do some research on the card.

The card she's thinking about applying for has a rewards program for all members, this is what mainly draws her in. She decides, though, to pay more attention to fees, charges and rates. She finds that there is a low late fee; meaning that if she is late on a payment, she wouldn't have that much of fee for being late. However, she doesn't like the fee that she would be charge for just using the card-or the annual fee. She finds that the Annual Percentage Rate for her desired card was also high, meaning she would have a high percentage fee on her charges.

Anne is not happy to find that the finance charge, or interest, on the card was sky high. While she is upset with some of the information she finds, she's happy to see that the interest rate is fixed; meaning that it will be the same all the time. Although she likes the introductory rate-the low rate that the company is trying to pull her in with that will get higher after the introductory period-she knows that that's not what she should be paying major attention to.

The card company offers zero liability; so if her card is ever lost or stolen, she wont have as great amount to worry over. They also offer balance transferring-or the ability to pay off debt with credit from another card-but, Anne has no intentions to use this. She figures it could help, if she ever needs it. She can also withdraw cash using her card, also known as cash advance. There's also a decent line of credit, or set amount of credit to use, available that is far over what she would use her card for.

In the end, Anne decides to go against getting a credit card. She sees no need to have one while in college, just like she was told. She still likes some of what the company was offering, but she knows that most of it isn't the best either. Anne is happy with her decision, and will consider maybe going for an efficient credit card once she's out of college and can actually afford it and make wise decisions.

Credit Card Worksheet - Catrina Carson

Jenny charged her $2,500 credit card to the max within the first month! She paid the minimum every month with an interest rate of 19.8%, taking her 47 years to pay off. Jenny ended up paying a total of $12,483.63!

1. It took Jenny 15-20 years to just cut her balance in half!
• That interest rate was a killer! At 15 years she owed $1,330.01 and at 20 she owed $1,077.69. She will finally reach her half point right in the middle; and still have over 20 years to go!
2. As said before, Jenny paid a total of $12,483.63.
• That's over eight times the amount she started with!
3. She paid $9,983.63 just in interest!
• That's roughly 4 times what she originally needed to pay and almost half of her ending total!
4. During her 45th-47th years, her payments will finally be going more to her principal than to her interest.
• As the balance gets lower, so does interest!
5. After 25 years of paying minimum, she will still owe $873.23.
• Keep in mind, she still has about 20 years to go before she pays it off! Just over eight hundred may seem low now, but it's still climbing!
6. At the age of 65, Jenny will have paid off her account, spending roughly $10,000 on interest.
• First things first; if Jenny hadn't charged to the max, she wouldn't have been in this situation.
• If Jenny had paid more than minimum each month, she wouldn't have payed nearly as much in an even lesser amount of time.
• She could have payed it in full right from the beginning and she wouldn't have had to worry about the large interest amount.
• If Jenny was employed; she could have set aside a certain amount of money each month, just for paying off the credit card. It wouldn't be as fast as a better option, but it's much better than only paying minimum each month.
• Jenny also could have split up the $2,500 owe into several groupings, instead of monthly payments for 47 years. 
• Example: split into five payments of $500. Sure, there would still be interest, but not nearly as much.

What do you think? Should Jenny have made better, wiser choices?