It is a little-known secret that credit card companies don’t want you to know. If you call them and ask them to lower your rates, they might just do it. Of course, it helps if you are a good customer with a long history with the creditor and have good credit. It also helps to carry a moderate balance and make considerably more than the minimum payment each month. If the credit card company sees you as a low risk borrower and knows they receive monthly interest payments from you (i.e. you carry a moderate balance), they will want to keep you as a customer.

Initially, the credit card representative will tell you that it is just not possible for them to lower your rate. At this point, you should say something like, “Are you sure because I just received a pre-approved offer for a credit card with an interest rate that is half of what I’m paying you and will allow me to transfer my entire balance from this card to theirs for 0%. I’ve been with your company for a long time so I thought I’d see if there was anything you could do.”

The representative will tell you to hold on for a minute at which point she will put you on hold and curse the fact that it was her who picked up your call. Then she will come back and tell you the good news about your new lower rate or tell you to take a hike.

If she tells you to take a hike, you’ve only lost a few minutes of your time. If she comes back with a lower interest rate, you have just saved thousands of dollars a year and it only cost you a few minutes of your time.

The credit crunch has made this tactic more difficult than it was in years past, but if you are a good customer and have good credit, your odds of getting a lower interest rate are somewhere around 50%.

Here’s what’s wrong with store credit cards.
1. The interest rates are usurious. In other words, they’re really high. Think 20%-30% high and that’s for people with good credit. There is no reason to pay these high interest rates unless someone is threatening to break your legs.
2. The store runs a regular credit inquiry on you. This means it registers on your credit report. This factor alone should be enough to dissuade you from applying for the card. Credit report inquiries of this type negatively impact your credit score. And although credit card companies deny it, they may take the actual store into consideration when looking at the rest of your credit report. If you apply for a store credit card at Store XYZ and the credit scoring algorithm determines that most people who apply for Store XYZ credit are deadbeats, you get thrown into the deadbeat pile. Not good.

The retail stores know that most people who sign up for the card will not pay their full balance off on the first payment. They know that they will make multiples of the original discount you received on merchandise in their cut of interest and fees, not to mention repeat business by people who are spending money they don’t have by charging their purchases to their store credit cards.

Signing up for store credit cards is a surefire way to lose money.

To find out, call the number on the back of your credit card and ask the customer service representative what your current interest rate is. While you are on the phone, ask the representative to lower the rate, no matter what it is. The rep will probably decline your request but as long as you have him on the phone it is worth a shot. Ask the representative for your current balance as well. And finally, ask the rep if the rate he told you covers all of your balances. Sometimes the card companies will try to be sneaky by quoting a rate for the overall account and not tell you that the rate on portions of your balance is significantly higher.

Do this for all of your credit cards, writing down the interest rate and the balance. Also make note of any higher interest rates that apply to specific portions of your balance. Once you have done this, set up a payment schedule that allocates the majority of your monthly payment to the highest interest rate card. Of course, make sure you pay more than the minimum payment on all of your credit cards each month.

Let’s assume you have two credit cards, each with a balance of $10,000. One credit card has a 20% interest rate and the other credit card has a 10% interest rate. If you can pay off the 20% credit card in one year, while paying what you can on the other card (always pay more than the minimum payment due) you can save more than $1000 in interest simply by paying the higher interest rate credit card first.

Paying more than the minimum payment on your credit card each month is so important because of the effects of compound interest on your balance. Add the fact that credit card rates border on usury these days, and paying only the minimum amount required by the credit card company can be disastrous.

For example, let’s assume you have credit card debt in the amount of $10,000 and an interest rate of 20%. If you only pay the minimum amount (generally 2.5% of the total balance) each month, it will take you more than five years to pay off the debt. And you will end up paying more than $6,000 in interest on the original $10,000 debt. That’s 60% of the face value of your original debt being paid to the credit card company in the form of interest!

The reason why the percentage is so high is the phenomenon of compound interest. Compound interest is known as one of the “Great Wonders of the World” because it accelerates the amount someone can earn on his or her money exponentially. Unfortunately for those of us carrying credit card debt, it also accelerates the amount of money owed exponentially.

If you have credit card debt at a 20% interest rate and you cannot earn a 20% annual rate of return on your other investments, you should not be investing. Instead, you should be paying down your debt as quickly as possible. In rough economic times like these, it is insane to pay 20% annually to a credit card company. Pay off credit card debt as quickly as possible by paying as much towards each payment as you possibly can.

So how does waking up early and feeling happier save you money? Well, happy people spend less money on unnecessary items than unhappy people do. Oftentimes, unhappy people spend money on something to make themselves feel better. This is otherwise known as emotional spending. When we are depressed, we often buy things to make us feel loved and deserving of nice things. This emotional spending comes with a hangover in the form of buyer’s remorse and bills. Waking up early contributes to happiness and decreases the urge to spend emotionally.

An added benefit of waking up early is that you will feel tired by the time the evening comes around and you will most likely not feel the need to go out. Let’s face it. It’s expensive to go out at night. Dinners, movies, bars, whatever you may be into. If it happens at night, it’s probably not cheap. If you are too tired to go out, your wallet will thank you.

A good way to save money during a recession is to spend an hour or two going through your statements and making a list of all the companies who are automatically billing you and how much they are taking out of your account. A staff member here recently found one company who had been charging him $14.95 a month for a website membership he forgotten he had. He hadn’t used the website in months but the amount was not high enough to raise a red flag for him when he received his monthly statements. It was only by reviewing his monthly debits that he found this $14.95 per month and canceled the website membership.

By going through his debits, he found several other services that he was being billed for but rarely used. By canceling these services, he was able to save almost $100 a month.

1. Write it down.
2. Make a budget.
3. Pay yourself first.
4. Examine your monthly debits.
5. Be realistic about your cable television needs.
6. Ditch the land line.
7. Get an unlimited text messaging plan.
8. Talk to your spouse and/or children about your economic situation.
9. Shop with a list and stick to it.
10. Use coupon codes when shopping online.
11. Make day trips close to home instead of going on an extravagant vacation.
12. Develop a “prison workout.”
13. Buy a coffeemaker.
14. Drink lots of water.
15. If you’re a man, cut your own hair.
16. If you’re single, use an online dating service.
17. Wake up early.
18. Press “Mute” during commercials.
19. Sleep on it.
20. Avoid “convenience” stores.
21. Unless you drive a Ferrari, don’t buy premium gasoline.
22. Reduce your stress.
23. Clean out your closets and your garage.
24. Bring your lunch.
25. Pay more than the minimum credit card payment each month.
26. Pay off high interest rate credit cards first.
27. Bathe and brush your own pet.
28. Develop a charity plan.
29. Eat at restaurants on special occasions only.
30. Never sign up for store credit cards.
31. Be smart about who you let into your inbox.
32. Use your public library.
33. Have a snack and drink a large glass of water before going shopping.
34. Get a Netflix membership.
35. Use movie theater outings for special occasions only.
36. If you have pets, find a veterinarian who offers free ancillary care.
37. If you don’t drink, never “split the check” with people who do.
38. Take digital photos and store them on your computer.
39. Always carry an energy bar.
40. Use a water filter.
41. If you are single, go for a walk on your first dates.
42. Never use ATM’s that charge a fee.
43. Forget about picking stocks.
44. Buy store-brand trash bags.
45. Join a professional association.
46. Buy your clothing from outlet stores.
47. Never borrow money to pay for food, utilities or clothing.
48. If your employer matches 401k contributions, contribute (at minimum) the percentage they match.
49. Stay away from the freezer aisle.
50. Go outside for some fresh air and sunlight.
51. Call your credit card companies and ask them to lower your rates.
52. Buy dessert at the grocery store.
53. Become familiar with all of the benefits offered by your employer and use them.
54. Cancel your newspaper and magazine subscriptions.
55. Don’t leave your job until you have another one lined up.
56. Never buy anything located near the checkout counter.
57. Don’t use your checking account overdraft protection as a regular line of credit.
58. Trade babysitting nights with a friend or neighbor.
59. Ask for discounts on products and services.
60. Sleep for eight hours each night.
61. If you can’t pay all of your taxes, set up an installment plan.
62. Monitor your credit.
63. Avoid checking account overdraft and credit card over limit fees.
64. Use store discount cards.
65. Pay your bills on time.
66. If you’re signing up for a monthly service, ask for any setup fees to be waived.
67. If you can’t pay a bill, call your creditor and ask to work out a payment plan.
68. Ask your boss whether layoffs are planned at your company.
69. Open your mail.
70. Use dollar-cost averaging to invest in an index fund.
71. Trade in your booze and cigarettes for a gym membership.
72. If you have cable television, skip the HDTV purchase.
73. Never take an early withdrawal from your retirement account.
74. Take public transportation when possible.
75. If you have to drive to work, set up a carpool.
76. Buy generic prescription medication when available.
77. Use coupons for grocery shopping.
78. Don’t exceed the posted speed limit.
79. Consider public school for your kids.
80. Beware of phone/cable/internet bundles.
81. Turn down the heat.
82. Avoid flagship shopping districts.
83. Forget about keeping up with the Joneses.
84. Before making a large purchase, calculate how many hours of work it takes for you to make that much money.
85. Instead of giving a birthday or Christmas gift, write a heartfelt letter to someone.
86. Don’t buy lottery tickets.
87. Use positive self-talk to attract wealth and income.
88. If you work for someone else, start a side business.
89. Beware of the grocery shrink ray.
90. Know how much you and your time are worth.
91. If you are single, do not get involved in any way with a spendthrift.
92. If you need to purchase an expensive item, bring competitors’ advertisements with you to the store.
93. Don’t read catalogs (even for fun).
94. Don’t lend money to your friends.
95. Don’t “invest” in “get rich quick” programs.
96. No one needs 50 pairs of shoes.
97. Do not go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City (or anywhere else where gambling is legal).
98. Diversify your sources of income.
99. Live like your parents lived.
100. Don’t go it alone.