Customer Reviews

How You Can Profit from Credit Cards: Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line

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Being an avid reader and contributor of the forums for a couple years at cardratings.com I had to purchase the book and was pleased with the great material found within. It took the best of what I've learned and explains it all in a well organized manner. I point family and friends to it now, cause it explains it all much better than I can. With the help of the forums I overcome a $12000 credit debt in 2 years and over the time built a score close to 800. I enjoy having my cards earn me money instead of having debt and having the upper hand now that I know how the credit world works.

Thanks for your help, Curtis.

I was very impressed with "How you can profit". Arnold seems very well-versed in credit cards and provides a lot of the ins and outs of the multi-billion dollar industry. Arnold goes over everything from why cards target college kids to how granny can be defrauded.

The one criticism I have is that most of the book doesn't tell you how to profit from credit cards as, say Credit Arbitrage does (you can actually have the credit cards make money for you $30~$1000 a month). Mainly it's just a how-to on all aspects of credit card ownership and usage- but highly recommended!

Curtis has written a very relevant, timely message to an audience that needed this many moons ago. I have struggled with my finances in my college days like most students, and have found myself asking, "Where would I be today if I had this book in college?" Curtis has written this book as a tool for any and every consumer, but specifically the student credit chapters need to be plugged in to every university in America. It's information would prevent the next generation from experiencing what we are going through today. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the next generation succeed financially!

I just had the chance to finish this book on my Kindle, and I am very impressed by the depth and richness of content that Mr. Arnold discusses in his book. I had a chance to briefly work with Mr. Arnold when I was at Advanta, and I kept thinking that if he wrote a book on all he knew about the industry, it would be a good one. Now that I have read it, I can tell you that it has exceeded my expectations.

Curtis is a top consumer advocate, so the fact that he actually cares about helping people get out of debt was not surprising. In the first chapter, Curtis talks about how your credit cards is more than just a piece of plastic, and by the fourth and fifth chapter, you get to master concepts such credit card rewards and rebates. There are so many good tips in this book that after you are done with it, you are going to wonder how you have gone without them till now.

My personal favorite section was "Master Advanced Card Techniques To Save and Make Money." I am not going to spoil the book for you here but as it's mentioned in the book, I highly recommend you look at CardRatings.com for more tips and credit card reviews.

I do recommend the Kindle edition if you have the Amazon Kindle device. Not that this book is expensive, but it's more convenient to receive this book in 30 seconds rather than waiting a few days to get it shipped from Amazon.

Credit card companies seem convinced that most consumers are spendthrifts who will quickly sink into debt if given the chance. And owning a credit card gives you that chance. Unfortunately, few applicants read the fine print on new credit card offers until they are merrily charging away and their debts mount. Eventually, previously naive consumers figure out that if they are late with even one payment, interest rates on all their cards can skyrocket. Fortunately if you know what to do - pay on time - you don't have to incur heavier debt. Here, consumer advocate Curtis E. Arnold outlines how you can reward yourself financially with savvy credit card use and how you can protect yourself. He hammers hard on the need to pay up, but the message really matters to your credit rating, particularly until new U.S. credit card regulations go into effect. Arnold explains how knowledgeable consumers can use the card companies' money for little or no interest, get cash back on their purchases, earn airline miles and even get the companies to contribute to their children's college funds. And none of it has to cost a dime. Want to learn how? getAbstract recommends this book to anyone who uses credit cards and wants to come out on top.

I used to work in credit card marketing and I've seen the money and resources that go into getting people to open credit cards and to build balances. Card issuers build mathematical models and track statistical correlations over very large numbers of people to determine how best to get you to pay them interest and fees. I'm glad to see Curtis expose some of the tricks that issuers use and how we can turn these techniques to our advantage.

[...] I would love everyone to use these techniques to your advantage. For those who can use cards to their advantage, this book is a must-read.

A very well written book which goes a long way toward enlightening credit card users. Arnold discusses both pitfalls and opportunities - conveyed in a easy-to-understand style and language. If you care about your financial literacy, you need to read this book.

I was particularly impressed with the mountainous amount of information written in such a friendly, easy-to-read format. Curtis has done a wonderful job explaining the ins and outs of credit cards and how you can actually make a profit using them.

I've known Curtis for several years and can personally attest to his desire to help people understand the credit industry: credit cards, credit reports, credit scores, and more. I thought I knew a lot about credit cards, yet I was amazed beginning in Chapter One at Curtis' unique perspective and exemplary advice.

Everyone should learn the information in this book. Parents would do well to give copies to their children. It's that important!

I've been writing about credit issues for more than twenty years now, and through my work have had the opportunity to get to know the author Curtis Arnold. I am thrilled he finally pulled his knowledge together in this book, and can't recommend it highly enough.

We've all come to realize now with the credit crunch what a double-edged sword credit cards can be, and Curtis has done a thorough job explaining how to make sure you don't get hurt! The book is easy enough to read, but detailed enough to warn against traps you may not have heard of. (Trailing interest anyone?) You'll also find advanced strategies like credit card arbitrage, and predictions for the future of plastic.

This is an excellent, well-researched and well-written guide to credit cards. I would recommend it to anyone who uses plastic - whether you pay in full each month and want to maximize rewards, or you want to dig out from under as Curtis did himself.

Love the tips that Arnold shares! He talks about he and his wife getting over $1,000 cash back last year and saving thousands in finance charges. Great stuff- a must read for every card holder.