If you need to entertain your guests or travel frequently, the amount you spend may differ from one month to another. Without spending limits, charge cards will be suitable for those who need to spend large amounts on entertaining their clients. They offer short term loans without penalties if you pay off in full every month. American Express and Diners Cards are such travel and entertainment cards. American Express has other payments options available for you to make your payments over a longer period of time. Due to the different schemes available, some people may use the terms interchangeably, but these two are basically different.

The second type of major cards is the credit card we are familiar with. Visa and Master Card work with banks to issue credit cards to the consumer. The banks will determine the spending limit on your cards based on your income level. Different cards have different terms and conditions. If you only pay the minimum amount for your credit card payment, be prepared to fork out hefty sums that stemmed from your interest payments and new purchases. Due to the nature of unsecured loans, interest rates are considerably higher and over time, they may add up to a lot.

Business Credit Cards are the next type of cards. These cards are meant for those with small businesses, although some banks give them to their customers holding personal credit cards. These cards tend to have lower interest rates and higher spending limits. Cash flow issues can be easily resolved for small business with business credit cards as you can pay the bills over an extended period.

Last but not least, various major companies offer retail store cards. Some are linked to shopping malls or other retail stores or we have fleet cards, for various fuel purchases as well. Due to the numerous retail store cards, the terms and conditions are not alike. Only certain countries accept such cards.

Since various types of credit cards offer different conditions and payment options, you need to decide what cards such as charge cards, credit cards, business credit cards and retail store cards suit you best.

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The last time I went to the tour, I booked a great trip to the various onsens or hot springs in Japan. This time round, I’m looking for great deals for my honeymoon at the end of the year. My friend went to Greece, and some suggested New Zealand. Any suggestions?

Before you decide on the tour package, check for the hidden charges such as fuel surcharges, taxes, and add-on day tours. I went with my friend on a very cheap tour to Chiang Mai before, and we had to pay 500 baht per person to go to each location, such as going to the borders between three countries, and a visit to the Karen hill tribes. So the best deal may not be that great.

In addition, my trip to Korea was filled with lots of visits to shops and stores where the tour guide could earn commission. The photographer with us tried to take photos of us, which he would charge $8 per photo. One family had to pay more than $300 for the photos because they did not know about this.

At the same time, some tours may fail to materialise because not enough customers book them. If you happen to be on such a tour, you may have to change your plans. Check whether there would be any refunds if this happens.

You may also decide whether you want to see a lot of different places, or you want to enjoy each place at your own pace. Do check with the agencies what languages the tour guides would be speaking in. On my last trip to Japan, the local tour guide could barely speak English and Mandarin. It so happened that most of the tourists on my coach came from English-speaking backgrounds, so when the man tried to lapse into Cantonese, he lost almost all of us.

Enjoy your trip! 

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What Fleet Cards USA does is to explain the difference between fleet cards and gas cards. Gas cards are used to purchase fuel only, but fleet cards will help to track individual vehicles, drivers, type of fuel, and other minute details which will allow the company to make better decisions. This will also cut down on fraudulent purchases.

Since the company has a wide variety of services, different companies can choose different types of reporting and packages. Some are free, while some are fee-based. This will ensure companies to maximise their profits by selecting the best options.

There is a list of four of the top fleet cards in the US. Before applying for the fuel cards, check out the savings listed and find one that is suitable for the company. It also depends on the petrol company that the company has been using. These fleet cards are given by credit card merchants such as Mastercard.

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Most people don’t realize that one of the most profitable parts of the car dealership business is in the financing of the motor vehicles. There is often more money to be made from the financing than from the sale of the vehicle itself. Just think about it. A 3% loan for 10 years is more than 30%. It will work out to be more than 7% a year eventually.

And guess who pays for it?

You do!  And you pay considerably more for it than you would from many other types of borrowing. You are probably paying interest on not only the purchase of the vehicle but also the insurance, the warranty and any other additional items that the dealer talked you into at the point of sale.

This makes for a very expensive vehicle and before many people know it they find themselves in difficulty making the monthly payments.

So how do you get out of the situation?

You need to consider what alternatives you have to reduce your automotive debt and that might mean selling your expensive motor vehicle and getting something a little more realistic considering the situation you are in. Especially with expensive oil prices, new ERP gantries that collect money from 5.30pm to 10pm, and expensive parking (I just paid $12 for parking on a weekday afternoon at Suntec), you might want to reconsider having a car.

Cars are very often an emotional buy, where the impression that your new vehicle might have on friends, family and neighbours might influence your decision into buying a more expensive vehicle by borrowing more.

You need to look at it a bit more realistically and consider what you have to deal with on a daily basis trying to make ends meet due to your car payments and then look for a better alternative.

If you can manage with one car rather than two, then offload one and use the money from that to reduce debt.

If you can get rid of your expensive vehicle that you have financed and have sufficient funds to pay cash outright for a lower grade vehicle, provided of course that it is reliable, then that would be a wise move and have a huge impact on your monthly budget.

It could also be the fast track you need to get back into a better vehicle sooner without all the debt.

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