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The Skinny on Credit Cards: How to Master the Credit Card Game | 
 enlarge | Author: Jim Randel
Publisher: Rand Media Co
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $7.91
You Save: $7.04 (47%)
New (14) Used (10) from $7.90
Rating:  30 reviews
Media: Perfect Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 176
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0981893546
Dewey Decimal Number: 332
EAN: 9780981893549
Publication Date: April 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The Skinny on Credit Cards, How to Master the Credit Card Game. Finally, someone has written a book which is clear, concise and comprehensive on the subject of credit cards. The Skinny on Credit Cards will be helpful to everyone from the young adult getting his or her first card to the older adult who has used cards for years and never really totally understood the rules of the game. The Skinny on Credit Cards is a compilation of all the books and articles that have been written on the subject. All the experts were consulted. The Skinny On™ presents all the relevant information in an entertaining and easy-to-digest fashion. The credit card world is willing to lend you money. They want money back in return in the form of fees and interest. In some ways, the use of a credit card is a big game. Your job as a consumer is to play the game well so that you get more out of the relationship than do the credit card issuers. The Skinny on Credit Cards will teach you how to win the game!!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 30
The Skinny On Series.... May 30, 2010
Mary J. Gramlich (St. Louis, MO)
Why is is so easy to pretend that we can have everything and not worry until the bill comes about how we are going to pay for it? Everything has a price with an interest rate attached. Learn from this book how to get control of what can become a huge source of unnecessary debt.
"Knowledge is Power" when it comes to using credit cards May 24, 2010
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Among my first experiences with credit cards was in the early 1990s at weekend Mets games. A credit card marketing firm had set up several tents festooned with Mets beach towels and t-shirts around Shea Stadium.
The towels and t-shirts were not for sale, but for filling out a credit card application. The nice young people manning the booths were quick to point out that there was no obligation to use the card. "There is no catch," one of them said.
All you had to do was fill out the application and they would immediately present you with a towel or t-shirt. And if your application was approved, the new credit card would shortly arrive in the mail.
I had a feeling that there was a catch. I took one of the applications, and between innings, I looked at the fine print. Once you charge an item, there was a 28-day grace period where you would not be charged interest. However, if you didn't pay the full amount, you would hit with an annual 21% finance charge. I tore up the application.
I didn't fall for the ploy. However, I saw plenty of other folks signing up and walking away with Mets beach towels and t-shirts. They may have been free for that day, but I would bet that they would turn out to be the most expensive towels and t-shirts they had come to own. I am sure that many of the naive baseball fans would never have applied for the cards if they understood the fine print.
Too bad these folks didn't have a copy of The Skinny on Credit Cards. Unlike many personal finance books that use long paragraphs to explain the perils of credit card debt, this book uses the "Power Point" slide approach. In a page or less it explains how APRs work, why it's important to pay in full every month, and why credit card companies are not your friend.
This book is geared towards both young and old consumers with short attention spans and little time to read. I read it in an evening. It is well worth the purchase price and is an excellent gift to a college student or young person who is just starting out as well as a guide for those mired in credit card debt looking for a way out.
Author Jim Randel mentions Sir Fancis Bacon's famous quote, "Knowledge is Power" several times in the book. Indeed, read this book and you'll understand credit cards and why you should avoid using them.
Read this before you get one May 14, 2010
Ruth B. Ingram (East Texas, USA)
The skinny on credit cards is just that in small easily understood bites that even a teenager can appreciate. With a child in college this is a must pack book for him to take to school with him and I read it beforhand. This is just great, no nonsense, straight talking, no bull, telling you just like it is. I think this book should be mandatory reading for all high school seniors and there should be a test. They lay out all the things the credit company does not tell you in regular size print, hold up to proper viewing the hidden fees and finally makes you realize these people do not love you. They want to make money and lots of it off of you. Beware.
 Lots of Good Information About Credit Cards May 9, 2010
Mary Santos (Houston, Texas)
This is an excellent book to share with young people. I wish I'd had access to a book like this one when I was a college student to avoid the pitfalls of credit card debt. Unfortunately, I didn't and had to learn the hard way.
Now, that I already own my home, cars, etc. I have become much more of a ZERO debt believer, so the advice to continue using credit cards just to keep the accounts open, falls on deaf ears with me. If the credit card company wants to close my accts, that's fine by me. We have two credit cards we use for trips and online shopping, since the protections for fraud are a little better on those and then it doesn't tie up our money if the card number was stolen (and that has happened to us a couple of times.) Other than that, unless you think you'll need a car loan or mortgage, there's really no need to keep using a credit card, especially if you have 6-12 mos of living expenses saved up. It's far too dangerous for some spenders to think it's okay to use a credit card for anything. Many people would have much happier, less stressful lives if they had zero credit and zero debt. As mentioned in this book, the number one reason relationships break-up is because of finances.
#1 Lesson to take from this book: Credit cards are LOANS
Disclaimer: I was provided a complimentary copy for review.
Yes, finally, an INTERESTING, book on managing credit card usage and debt ! May 2, 2010
R. Neil Scott (Murfreesboro, TN USA)
Jim Randel has written a useful, interesting and entertaining book about a topic that makes for a perfect gift for sons, daughters and grandkids graduating from high school and headed off to college -- or, heaven forbid, those already up to their necks in credit card debt.
Let's face it -- a lot of college textbooks (esp. in business) are boring and almost painful to read and study. They're written in a stilted academic style and are typically focused on broad, theoretical views instead of the practical, up-to-date issues we face in our daily lives. Randel knows this and has carved a niche in this publishing market that will serve him, and his readers, well. And, while I thought the stick figure illustrations would make for a ridiculous and distracting way to highlight text, I was very pleasantly surprised to find -- instead -- they make the narrative much easier to read and digest. (Guess it's a left-brain, right-brain thing!)
I like how Randel adds in expertise of others in the field, offering insightful quotes from authors: Dave Ramsey, (The Total Money Makeover); Harv Eker (Secrets of the Millionaire Mind); Robert Manning (Credit Card Nation); James Scurlock (Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit); Liz Pulliam Weston (Your Credit Score); and Suze Orman (Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan). Obviously, since this is a sort of who's-who in the field, he's in good company!
Bottom line? It's an entertaining, yet comprehensive survey of the credit card issues facing consumers that is authoritative and practical. For the best cure -- while it can be read in just a couple of hours -- I prescribe keeping it bedside and reading it in doses of 10-15 minutes at a time. Then, turn out the light and dream of financial independence!
Highly recommended for public, college and military base library collections and for gift-giving by banks, financial planners, CPAs and yes, parents.
R. Neil Scott, MLS/MBA
Middle Tennessee State University
Showing reviews 1-5 of 30
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