If you make the minimum payment due on your average balance of $4300 each month your credit card will be paid off in approximately 39 years! It's called "amortization", or in case of credit cards, I should say "lack of amortization. In lay people's terms, this simply means, you have no real term set in order to pay this back. It's open-ended. They'll let you pay that same balance forever it you let them. When you buy an automobile, you may finance it for 5 years. You know, that if you never send an extra dime but your monthly payment to the loan company, you will own that car on the day of your 60th payment. You have none of these guarantees with credit cards. They are revolving accounts. I guess you can say they are like the Energizer Bunny, "THEY KEEP GOING, AND GOING, AND GOING. AND GOING, AND GOING...."

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They Will Continue To Hook You With Low Teaser Rates!" Because banks know that credit card usage is at an all time high, most of them are competing for every bit of our business. Many offer promotions like transferring balances from other cards to the new card that they can offer you. If you transfer balances from other cards, they say, they will charge you a reduced rate of interest on those portions that are transfers. This sounds like a great deal (going from 18% to a promotional rate of say 6%), however, most of them have a catch. For instance, if you do not charge something on the new card each month, the interest goes up to the regular rate of the card (which is often higher than the old card that you replaced), of if you make one late payment, you forego the lower rate, and the rate again goes up to the regular rate of the card. Most l card companies can raise your rate without reason . They only have to send you a notice. (its in the fine pri

They Set The Monthly Payment So Low You Will Never Pay Off!" If you keep making your minimum payment only, your balance will never get paid off. Have you noticed how while your minimum payment due on your credit card is $85, your balance only came down $11 dollars! WHY??? That's because we pay ungodly amounts of interest on credit cards. Even the so called "low-interest rate" credit cards don't show their payments going towards bringing down their balances. All they do is just require a lower minimum payment. Sure, this might help your monthly outgo right now , but what's it doing to get you out of debt? NOTHING? That's because the MINIMUM PAYMENT DUE ON CREDIT CARDS ARE BASICALLY "INTEREST ONLY" PAYMENTS. "

Watch Out For The Killer Teaser Rate!" quot; Example: Your rate of 6.9% is a teaser rate. After 6 months, your rate will be 21%." The Teaser, a.k.a. Introductory rate credit card has made credit card banks and centers BILLIONS of dollars. Because so few consumers ever read the FINE PRINT. You know, the print that only the eyes of a 12 year old can read without getting a migraine! These credit cards come with stipulations. There are too many "catches" to name. But I assure you, They are there. Credit cards banks don't make any money if they are financing your debt at or below Wall Street Prime interest rates. So I leave you with one last thought on this topic, "IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY ISN'T."

"They Have Tried To Program Your Late Charge!" Most credit card payments are due on the 15th and the last day of the month. Most of us get paid on one of those two days. If you send in your payment on the 15th. the payment is probably posted sometime between the 4th and the 6th of the month. Most credit cards not only regard that as a late payment, but charge you a late fee of between $35 and $50 as a late payment. There is no grace period. How are we supposed to ever get ahead. In their eyes, WERE NOT.
"No Matter What They Say, They Can Change Your Rate!"

No matter what you believe, Credit Card rates are adjustable. You may read that your interest rate is fixed but in the fine print you will find many escape clauses. They do not tell you the truth and then cover their self in the fine print. They can raise you rate if you have a late payment! They can raise your rate if you are late on another companies credit card. They can raise your rate if your mortgage or car payment is late. Most important, they can raise your rate just because they want to. As bankruptcy filings continue to go through the roof they will sooner than later raise your rate and there is nothing you can do to stop it except pay and pay and pay!