This is part of a series of articles taking a closer look at the tips provided by Bankrate’s Debt Counselor’s 15 tips article.

1. Freebies are lethal.
Those low introductory offers sound great, but they are designed to get you hooked on the service. The ploy works way too often, says Elaine Rutter, a certified consumer credit counselor with the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Central Pennsylvania.

“I see people with cable, Internet and cell phones paying several hundred dollars a month,” she says. The consumers tried the service at the initial low price and kept it on even after the bill went back up to the normal rate.

Be sure you can afford the extra bill with your current income and budget.

This refers to not only teaser promotional rates for credit cards but all sorts of services. I think it’s crucial for a savvy consumer to check what the rates are after a promotional offer, if they’re the same as what you’re paying now then by all means snatch up the offer.

In many cases, especially with 0% balance transfer offers, you’re just looking to get a 0% respite for a year or six months so that you can catch up or pay off a bigger chunk. I think in those instances it is very important to take the deal if you can because in the end it will help you. This tip is just warning you about seeing a “too good to be true” teaser or promotional rate and then getting suckered in after the rate ends.

This is part of a series of articles taking a closer look at the tips provided by Bankrate’s Debt Counselors’s 15 tips article.
Source: Bankrate