Review all terms of any credit card offer you receive.

Bank credit cards that offer 0 APR on purchases can be a great way to help finance a home improvement and another upgrade of your home.

Bank credit cards that offer are also a much better choice than the store credit cards offered which can trap you into paying very high interest. many store branded credit cards with 0 percent interest offers on the purchases made in the store come with an important catch: If the balance is not paid off in full before the end of the 0 APR term, full interest is applied to the entire balance back to the first day of your purchase.

And since most of these store credit cards also feature interest rates as high as 24.99 percent, you could find yourself paying 24.99 percent on that 0 APR purchase.

Calculate how long it would take you to pay off the balance on a high-interest car loan or home equity loan without the added interest and then calculate whether you can afford to pay that amount within the granted time. If you find that you can afford to pay the loan completely within 12 to 24 months, take out that same amount on a credit card with a long-term 0 percent APR offer.

This is an extremely risky strategy, however, and will only work if you’re sure you can pay off the credit card balance in full before the promotional offer expires. And don’t just count on transferring the remaining balance to another 0 APR card at the end of the promotional term, as this can easily recoil.

Give yourself a financial backing when you’re calculating how much you can afford to repay each month before the promotional period expires. That way, you’re less dangerous to having your budget thrown off by unexpected expenses.