Credit Card		Interest on Purchases	Interest Free Period	Cash Advance	Balance Transfer		Rewards	Annual Fee
						Rate	Period
	St.George No Annual Fee Card		18.75%	N/A	17.75%	N/A	N/A	St.George Instant Benefits	$0	Apply More Info
	ANZ Visa Debit Card This is a debit card.		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0	Apply More Info
	ANZ First Card		19.99%	44 days	19.99%	7.99%	6 mths	N/A	$30	Apply More Info
	St.George Vertigo MasterCard Awarded Australia's Cheapest Credit Card. Money Magazine 2008.		11.89%	55 days	20.49%	0%	6 mths	Discounts with St.George Instant Benefits	$45	Apply More Info
	Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Card		13.24%	55 days	18.99%	5.99%	5 mths	N/A	$48	Apply More Info
	Aussie MasterCard		11.99%	55 days	15.99%	3.99%	6 mths	N/A	$49	Apply More Info
	Amex Gold Card		19.99%	55 days	19.99%	6.99%	6 mths	American Express Selects -An exciting selection of year round offers and discounts	$49	Apply More Info
	ANZ Low Rate MasterCard		12.99%	55 days	20.99%	0%	6 mths	N/A	$58	Apply More Info
	BankWest Lite MasterCard		11.79%	55 days	20.49%	0%	9 mths	N/A	$59	Apply More Info
	St.George Starts Low Stays Low Card		12.99%	55 days	12.99%	N/A	N/A	St.George Instant Benefits	$59	Apply More Info
	Citibank Clear Card		11.99%	55 days	18.49%	N/A	N/A	Citibank World Privileges	$65	Apply More Info
	BP-Citibank MasterCard		19.89%	55 days	19.89%	2.9%	12 mths	5% Cash Back at BP and 1% everywhere else	$79	Apply More Info
	St.George Gold Low Rate Card		14.25%	55 days	18.25%	N/A	N/A	Instant Benefits/ Travel Insurance/ Warranty on purchases	$79	Apply More Info
	ANZ Gold Card		19.99%	55 days	19.99%	7.99%	6 mths	Comprehensive Overseas Travel and Medical Insurance + Extended warranty.	$87	Apply More Info
	St.George Platinum Card		14.25%	55 days	20.49%	3.99%	6 mths	St.George Instant Benefits plus free insurance	$89	Apply More Info
	ANZ Frequent Flyer Card		20.74%	44 days	20.24%	N/A	N/A	Earn unlimited Bonus Points at over 2,000 ANZ Bonus Partner outlets.	$95	Apply More Info
	Amex Blue Sky Card		19.99%	55 days	19.99%	N/A	N/A	Flights Rewards - Get 50% off all Blue Sky flights till 2010. Free travel insurance	$95	Apply More Info
	Westpac Altitude Card		20.74%	45 days	20.74%	3.99%	6 mths	Altitude rewards program - Frequent Flyer and a wide range of rewards available.	$100	Apply More Info
	Citibank Gold Card		20.74%	55 days	20.74%	2.9%	12 mths	Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer Points + Travel Insurance	$119	Apply More Info
	Citibank Platinum Card		20.74%	55 days	20.74%	6.9%	N/A	Redeem Rewards points for Qantas Frequent Flyer points + retail discounts	$250	Apply More Info
	Amex Platinum Card Won Fully featured credit card of the year at The Australian Financial Review Smart Investor Blue Ribbon Awards 2007		19.99%	55 days	19.99%	6.99%	N/A	Qantas domestic Economy return flight to selected Australian Capital cities, every year. Free International and domestic travel insurance	$395	Apply More Info

How To Get Ahead With Your Credit Card Repayments

If you pay the minimum payment due on your credit cards every month but your balance either seems to stay the same or actually increases every month, you may be puzzled as to why the balance doesn’t seem to decrease. After all, you are making a regular repayment every month! Unfortunately, only paying the minimum amount due isn’t going to shift that credit card balance and here’s why:

By only paying the minimum amount due every month, you’re only repaying approximately two percent of the total closing balance. Not only that, but the monthly interest charges also have to be paid out of that minimum repayment. So if you only paid the minimum amount each month and didn’t use your credit card again, it would take you approximately four years to repay your total credit card debt.

For example, if your closing balance is $3,340 and you only pay the minimum repayment due of $67, it would take you 49 months to clear your credit card debt. And that’s if you don’t use that card again! With a balance of $3,340, you’re being charged interest of approximately $38 per month if your interest rate is a relatively low 13.99 percent per annum. If you keep using your card every month and just keep paying the minimum repayments, then it will take you even longer to clear your credit card debt - or perhaps not at all!

You see, the interest charges will be paid first out of that $67 monthly repayment and then $29 of the actual credit card debt. If you purchase items that cost more than $29 per month with your card in this example, then your balance will slowly keep on growing each month. This is why after months or even a couple of years of only paying the minimum repayments due, your credit card debt seems to suddenly explode and you realise just how much money you owe.

So what can you do? Well, there are two things you can do. The first is to stop using your credit card until you’ve paid off your debt. And the second thing you can do is to pay off your credit card as quickly as possible. By making larger repayments, you’re instantly saving on the amount of interest you’ll be charged the following month.

Although $38 per month interest (in our example) doesn’t sound like a lot, it adds up to $456 per year. Just imagine what you could do with $456 in your pocket, instead of in the credit card company’s! A good way to motivate yourself to pay off your credit card debt as soon as possible is to draw a picture or cut a photo out of a magazine of something you wish to purchase with the money you’ll save on interest charges. If you’d rather save the money instead, you could draw a piggy bank or a dollar sign, or similar. As long as the image works for you!

As you can see, paying more than the minimum monthly amount due on your credit card balance means you can save on interest charges and reach a zero balance a lot quicker than just paying the token minimum payment every month. So why not start doing so today?