Whether you're holding on financially or slipping fast in these tough economic times, ReallyGreatRate wants you to have the best financial information at your fingertips.

If you do need to talk to someone about help for dealing with seemingly insurmountable debt, ReallyGreatRate offers free consultation to determine which custom tailored Debt Relief Program might be right for you.

Whatever your situation, it always helps to increase your Financial Intelligence Quotient (FIQ).

If you've seen some of the following terms for years but never knew what they all meant, don't feel bad. You're not alone! The important thing is to keep learning. The more you know, the better you'll be able to become the true master of your financial ship. Let's start with these 10 credit terms:

• Annual percentage rate (APR) — This is a yearly rate of interest that includes fees and costs paid to acquire the loan. Lenders are required by law to disclose the APR. It's calculated in a standard way by taking the average compound interest rate over the term of the loan, so borrowers can compare loans.
• Finance charge — This is the charge for using a credit card. It's comprised of interest costs and other fees.
• Secured card — A secured credit card is one that a cardholder secures with a savings deposit. This guarantees payment of the outstanding balance if the cardholder defaults on payments. It's common for those new to credit, as well as those rebuilding poor credit ratings.
• Balance Transfer — Term that refers to the process of moving an unpaid credit card debt from one issuer to another. Card issuers may offer lower introductory rates to encourage balance transfers coming in. And there may be balance-transfer charges to discourage them from going out.
• Cash-advance fee — A charge by the bank for using credit cards to obtain cash. This fee can be stated in terms of a flat per-transaction fee or a percentage of the amount of the cash advance.
The banks may limit the amount that can be charged to a specific dollar amount. Depending on the bank issuing the card, the cash advance fee may be deducted directly from the cash advance at the time the money is received or it may be posted to your bill as of the day you received the advance.
• Variable interest rate — This is the percentage a borrower pays for the use of money. It moves up or down based on changes in other interest rates.
• Average daily balance — The method by which most credit cards calculate your payment due. It's determined by adding each day's balance and then dividing that total by the number of days in the billing cycle. That balance is then multiplied by a card's monthly periodic rate, which is calculated by dividing the annual percentage rate by 12. A card with an annual rate of 18 percent would have a monthly periodic rate of 1.5 percent. If that card had a $500 average daily balance it would yield a monthly finance charge of $7.50.
• Minimum payment — The minimum amount – often two percent of the outstanding balance – a cardholder can pay to keep the account from going into default. Some card issuers will set a high minimum if they are uncertain of the cardholder's ability to pay.
• Periodic rate — The interest rate described in relation to a specific amount of time. The monthly periodic rate, for example, is the cost of credit per month. The daily periodic rate is the cost of credit per day.
• Over-the-limit fee — A fee charged for exceeding the credit limit on a credit card.