http://www.securedcardpick.com/credit-cards/unsecured-credit-cards/ Unsecured credit cards give you purchasing power--just don't abuse it. en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0 You might be wondering what the difference between regular credit cards and unsecured credit cards is, but there is no difference. They are the same thing. Unsecured credit cards are the cards you get when you get an application in the mail and apply. Store cards are also unsecured credit cards. But there is a difference between secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards. Secured vs. Unsecured The difference between secured credit cards (also known as prepaid credit cards) and unsecured credit cards is that with secured credit cards, you pay upfront. It's similar to a debit card in that respect, but there's a fee to set it up and a fee to "reload" it when the funds run out. Still, there's no annual fee, no late fees and no over-the-limit fees (when you run out of money on a prepaid card, it is simply declined). Secured cards are good for students or people trying to rebuild their credit. Unsecured cards typically give you more of a credit line than you can afford to pay off in full each month should your spending get out of control. In fact, if your credit is good, sometimes your credit line can get as high as $10,000 or more! But just because you have an unsecured credit card like an unsecured Visa, for example, doesn't mean you need to go hog wild. if you do, you could find yourself with a lot of credit card debt. The best thing to do is pay your credit card off in full each month--if you want to stay out of debt. Putting all your monthly expenses on a credit card actually can be a way to track your finances. Just look at your credit card statement each month and see how much you spent on groceries, gas and other things. It's easy to see where your spending was a bit...excessive this way and make cuts. But you also run the danger of spending more than you normally would. In fact, when you make purchases with your credit card, you tend to spend 30% more. So watch out! Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT