As the mass chaos of Black Friday rapidly approaches you can already see people starting to lose their minds. Kids throw fits at the sight of their favorite toy, grown men beg their wives for the new Xbox Kinect and wives across the nation take the weight of pleasing everyone on their wish list on a limited budget.  It is no wonder that the lure of 20% can cause the strongest of men to wait in the cold at 3:30 in the morning! To help you maximize your 20% savings I would like to offer you credit tips during the holiday crunch time!

Don't Get Caught in the Retail Card Hype

1. Retail Cards are just "Pretty" Junk Cards.  Did you know that typical retail credit cards offer a $750 credit limit with a rate of up to 24.9% - and this is for people with GOOD credit!!! They entice you with 20% off and can be having you pay 4.9% more than the original price, how is that for savings? Don't get caught with a junk card with a logo, it is a bad investment.

2. Inquiries Can Crash Your Scores. Retail cards are not looked on as favorably as credit offered by auto dealerships or mortgage companies. Because of this multiplie inquiries from a retail credit cards can affect your scores more drastically and for longer periods of time than other inquiries.

3: New Accounts can Hurt Your Credit. 10% of your FICO score is based on the age of your credit. This is used by taking the averages of all the accounts opened. Opening new lines of credit will lessen the average age and potentially affect your score. The more your open then more you can affect your score. Also according to FICO it takes an average of 90 days for an account to score correctly which can make your credit scores suffer during this period.

Using Credit the Smart Way  

If you are planning on using credit this holiday season then use an existing card with a low interest rate and a decent credit limit. Anytime you are using a credit card for purchasing keep in mind that 30% of your score will be based on how much you owe and how high your credit limits are. So think before you buy or that 20% off may cost you more than the original asking price!

Keith Knapp | Credit Guys