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"Opening a new credit card is a lot like shopping for a new outfit\u2014you need to know how it&amp;#039;s going to flatter you, how much it&amp;#039;s going to cost you and, ultimately, if it really fits. Consider these important credit card elements the next time you find yourself filling out an application. Fine Print First and foremost, take a look at what you&amp;#039;re getting yourself into\u2014credit cards can be laden with fees, ranging from penalty fees to cash-advance fees. Know the rules and stick to them so you avoid hefty fees you can&amp;#039;t afford. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) The APR, also known as the interest rate, determines how much interest you&amp;#039;re going to pay on top of the money you&amp;#039;re already borrowing. The interest rate is especially important to look at if you plan to carry a balance month-over-month because it could mean the difference of hundreds\u2014or even thousands\u2014of dollars over the life of your balance. There are plenty of cards that start out with 0% APR, but it&amp;#039;s important to identify whether the rate is fixed (meaning it&amp;#039;s not going to change from month to month) or if it&amp;#039;s a variable rate, which means it will fluctuate based on a variety of different factors, such as paying your bill late. Incentives Nearly every credit card you look at these days will have some sort of rewards program incentivizing you to use it to make purchases, so why miss out on those opportunities? &amp;quot;There&amp;#039;s no reason you should be spending money on a credit card and not getting the most out of every penny,&amp;quot; says Linda Descano, president and CEO of Citi&amp;#039;s Women &amp;amp;amp; Co. &amp;quot;And the more you consolidate your expenses onto one or two cards, the more opportunity you&amp;#039;ll have to rack up points\u2014and the more rewards you&amp;#039;ll be able to reap.&amp;quot; Credit Limit The credit limit is the amount you&amp;#039;re allowed to charge on the card. It&amp;#039;s not only important to know so that you don&amp;#039;t max out your credit cards but also for monitoring your credit utilization ratio, which is the percentage of your credit limit that you&amp;#039;re using each month. Your utilization ratio is a determining factor in your credit score, and using too much of your credit limit could result in the demise of your score. It&amp;#039;s important to keep your ratio under 30%, according to CreditKarma.com, but the lower the better (with the exception of 0%). Remember that your credit utilization ratio is the percentage of all limits across all cards. Sarah Kaufman is the editor-in-chief of The Manilla Folder at Manilla.com, the leading, free and secure service that helps you simplify and organize your daily life. Using just one password, Manilla lets you manage your finances, utilities, daily deals, travel and rewards programs, Netflix and magazine subscriptions, and more\u2014all through Manilla.com or the top-rated iOS and mobile apps. Sarah is also a regular contributor to Yahoo! Finance, Good Housekeeping, The Motley Fool, The Jane Dough and other major sites. For more debt and credit tips, visit The Manilla Folder. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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