The other day my wife and I were invited to attend a home presentation of a very remarkable machine. It was a vacuum machine, but boy, it could do anything except cooking!

We spent a great chunk of our time watching all of the machine’s features, which were very sophisticated, and listening to a very long  speech from the salesman about the life that can’t be lived without having this machine in your home.

After two or three hours, all members of the group who did not own the machine bought it in spite of the outrageous several thousand dollar price tag.

My problem was, though I admired all the machine’s features, I did not have any plans to buy it. So, the salesman directed all his power at me and my wife. When all his arguments were exhausted, he decided to use one of the most powerful and very offensive ones as his last resort.

Looking right in my eyes he said: Don’t you think that any man who loves his wife would buy it?

Whenever you are receiving a letter from the bank you have no knowledge about which says: You are pre-approved – you are in the same situation as I was at that presentation. You have no plans to get another credit card. You did not ask the unknown bank to pre-approve you. You did not ask them to dig through your credit history.

But they desperately want you to sign up for their credit card. They want to convert you into a rushed, impulsive buying mood. That is what all salesmen are always trying to – get the sale.

When you are in an impulsive buying mood, you can’t clearly see what you are getting into. Is it good to have 0% APR for next nine months? Maybe … It depends. To know for sure, you would need to evaluate the card terms and conditions. And even if it looks really good, it does not mean that there is no better card on the market at this time.

What I am trying to convey is if you decided to get a new credit card you, and only you, should be the initiator of a credit card search, and only you should make the decision whether to apply or reject, not the bank.

Just like you would choose whether to buy any other important thing for yourself: a car, furniture, a dishwasher, or refrigerator, you owe it to yourself to use this same approach when applying for a credit card.

I think the most important thing in the card searching process is to clearly understand what the future purpose for the card is. Are you going to consolidate several of your high interest credit cards? Are you looking for a rewards card with the highest possible air miles or the highest cash rewards? Are you looking for ways to save on gas? Maybe for the most possible travel benefits or lowest APR for your everyday shopping?

Now you can see why I was not sure whether 0% APR for the first nine months would be good for you. That’s because if you are looking for the highest air mile rewards, then 0% APR on balance transfers doesn’t mean anything for you.

Please, never use one card for many different purposes. Always have a separate card for each particular financial goal you’ve decided to reach.

In my next several postings I am going to explain how to evaluate credit card offers for different purposes, how to choose a balance transfer card or a rewards card, and how to calculate whether any particular card is worthy of your effort in getting it.

P.S. I did not buy the vacuum machine, though …