Thursday November 26, 2009
Your creditor knows you have a lot of financial obligations, so it gives you the luxury of making minimum payments, an amount that's only between 1-3% of your balance and is sometimes less than your finance charge. Isn't it nice of them to give you that courtesy?
Have you ever heard of a creditor doing something nice for its customers? Of course not! The courtesy you think is allowing you to have more room in your budget is actually costing you. Minimum payments take a little money over a long period of time so you may never realize just how much money you're unnecessarily spending unless you look at the big picture.
Are you brave enough to see how much your minimum payments are costing you?
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Friday November 20, 2009
American Express cobranded hotel or airline credit card will be charged a fee to reinstate rewards lost because of a late payment. American Express recently announced that late payments would cause cardholders to lose any rewards accumulated during that month.
If you want to get your rewards back, you'll have to pay a $29 reinstatement fee, according to ABC News. Of course, you'll still have to pay a late payment fee of up to $38. Your interest rate could increase too, because of the late payment. Starting February 22, 2010, you can only be charged the penalty rate when you're more than 60 days late on your credit card payment.
Weekly Credit and Debt News Roundup:
- Salvation Army bell ringers in North Carolina will be accepted credit card donations. I suspect that bell ringers all over the nation will be taking credit cards. MyFox8.com Read more...
Wednesday November 18, 2009
Some extremists would tell you to avoid credit card debt by avoiding credit cards completely. Of course, credit cards can be good for you, helping to build your credit score when you use them the right way. So counting out credit cards completely isn't the best solution for avoiding credit card debt. Instead, there are some other things you can do to avoid the debt trap. For example, paying your balance in full every month will keep your credit card debt at $0. Here are 10 Ways You Can Avoid Credit Card Debt.
More Articles on Managing Credit Card Debt:
Monday November 16, 2009
If you want to pay off your credit card balance at a lower interest rate and your card issuer won't give you one, a balance transfer might be a good option. But, just because the interest rate on the new card is lower doesn't mean you'll actually save money with the balance transfer.
When you're calculating the savings of a balance transfer, you have to also think about the balance transfer fee and any difference in annual fees with the two credit cards. What's the Cost of a Balance Transfer? will help you figure out whether it's better to leave your balance where it is or move it to a new credit card.
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