Department stores and gas companies have special credit card offers that can help consumers build credit and receive discounts on certain purchases. Often, these cards come with terms and conditions that are very restrictive, but this is for a good reason.

Gas Cards and Department Store Cards
Never possess more than two department store or gas credit cards. These credit cards should be used minimally, and they should be used as a way to build credit. The discounts that come with department store and gas credit cards are just perks. If you own a great number of these credit cards, you’ll have a hard time keeping track of credit purchases and you could end up in debt.

Manage Your Balance In Proportion to Your Credit Limit
It’s smart to keep you balance at an amount that is less than twenty percent of your credit limit. When you carry a high balance, your credit score will be negatively affected. Remember also that it becomes very difficult to pay off high balance debts. So if you’ve got a card with a $500 credit limit, you shouldn’t ever see your balance exceed $100.

Don’t let rewards entice you into charging more than you can afford. Sure, it’s great to get gift certificates or cheap gas, but the problems you will face if you over charge your card will far outweigh the benefits of a few discounts.

Build Good Credit with Special Cards
Make all payments on time, as you’ll be able to avoid late fees and penalty interest rates. Making timely payments is the best way to establish good credit.

You should also avoid finance charges by paying your balance in full. Only make new purchases once you’ve paid your balance.

An Opportunity for Establishing Credit Quickly and Simply
Department store and gas credit cards are wonderful ways to establish good credit, so use them in moderation and you’ll see the benefits of these limited purpose cards.

The Federal Reserve has less of an impact on mortgage rates than many people think. Remember, the vast majority of mortgage interest rates are based on Mortgage Bonds and Mortgage Backed Securities, not prevailing federal interest rates or 10-year Treasury bills.

While it’s often true that 10-year T-bills or mortgage backed securities rates can be viewed hand in hand, there are times when the rates of each of these investments is moving in entirely different directions.

Also, when the Fed “lowers rates”, what’s really happening is that short-term credit rates are being lowered. Rates on credit cards, credit card offers, car loans, and even bank loans will fall, but longer term loans like mortgages won’t necessarily be affected.
The market is rapidly fluctuating all the time. Investors who see opportunities with short term stimulus cash will convert their bonds into stocks. So, a massive selling of mortgage backed securities then drives interest rates up. This is why it might be smart nowadays to avoid Adjustable Rate Mortgages, unless you’re willing to take a big risk on prevailing interest rates.

When the Fed cuts rates, mortgage rates will be affected very gradually. If you take a look at history, you’ll see that after a massive Fed cut, mortgage rates remain generally unaffected.

The Fed will affect these rates somewhat, but it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly how and when rates are affected. Never, ever wait for an anticipating Fed cut to lock in a loan. Remember that when the Fed cuts rates, mortgage rates actually spike for a brief period of time. As a result, if you’ve found an interest rate that you like and you want to purchase a mortgage, don’t wait.