Beware of Falling Minimum Payments


If you opened a credit card statement recently and were pleasantly surprised to find that your minimum payment due was lowered, don't be so quick to "jump for joy". What may appear as a small boost to your monthly budget is actually the rock that can weigh you down in debt for a lifetime.

More and more credit card companies are moving to requiring a minimum payment of 2% of your total outstanding balance. Consumer Action, a consumer advocacy group out of San Francisco, found that the number of card companies with a 2% minimum payment reached 53%, up from 43% just a year ago.

Some creditors have even gone so far as to call this a "consumer friendly" move claiming it will assist consumers faced with today's economic woes. In reality, a lower minimum payment causes you to take longer to pay off your debt to the creditor while winding up paying them more money in interest payments.

For example, let's say you have a credit card debt of $2500.00 @18% annual percentage rate (APR). Your monthly minimum payment based on a 2.5% pay back rate would be $62.50 per month. Oh and by the way, here's what the credit card company really doesn't want you to know - it will take you 20 YEARS to pay off your $2500.00 balance paying the minimum monthly due. And you will have paid the credit card company $3,365.51 in interest!

Now lets look at the same example using the rate of 2% minimum monthly payment. Your monthly payment drops to just $50.00 a month. You might be tempted to think "wow, I've got an extra $12.50 a month to play with, yippeee!". Not so fast! That lower minimum payment now means it will take you 34.5 YEARS to pay off your balance of $2500.00 and you'll wind up paying $6,430.93 in interest!

Consumer Action also reports that many credit card companies are imposing higher late payment fees and "more than a third of card issuers said they will raise existing cardholders' rates because of poor credit histories -- with other creditors -- even if the consumer has made regular, timely payments with that issuer".

My advice is to watch your use of credit carefully, always pay more than the minimum monthly due, and be sure to read the fine print on any credit card offers or changes to your existing accounts.

© 2004, www.yourfreecreditreportnow.com
Author: James H. Dimmitt
James is editor of "TO YOUR CREDIT", a weekly free newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter by visiting http://www.yourfreecreditreportnow.com.

home | site map credit repair
© 2006

credit
credit
Z
credit
credit
credit
paid surveys
credit
credit
online survey jobs
credit.
Zyban SR
Zyflo
Zyprexa
Zyrtec
government grants-D
Zyvox
GOVERNMENT GRANTS NEWS TOLL FREE 888 384 9607
Washington DC New Government Grants Service offers applications prepared for ...
  • Free Cash Grants Debt -EDU Home$1000 GIFT FREE INFO 800 306 0873 888 384 9608 24HRS
  • Few people realize the federal government has billions of dollars in government grants, government loans and business services that go unclaimed every year. ...
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:45:14
  • Government Grants Service 50 States 888 384 9608 24hrs
  • Government Publications Offers New Grants Service Now is the time to act if you need to earn extra money for up coming energy bills,gas for transportation or ...
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:44:30
    Feed last updated on 2006-11-10T19:45:45+00:00
    GOVERNMENT GRANTS NEWS TOLL FREE 888 384 9607
    Washington DC New Government Grants Service offers applications prepared for ...
    RSS 2.0
    MyYahoo
  • Free Cash Grants Debt -EDU Home$1000 GIFT FREE INFO 800 306 0873 888 384 9608 24HRS Few people realize the federal government has billions of dollars in government grants, government loans and business services that go unclaimed every year. ...
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:45:14
  • Government Grants Service 50 States 888 384 9608 24hrs Government Publications Offers New Grants Service Now is the time to act if you need to earn extra money for up coming energy bills,gas for transportation or ...
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:44:30 Feed last updated on 2006-11-10T19:45:45+00:00 government grants $20,000 Study Abroad
    government grants & loans $ Transmissions
    government grants $800,000 Innovative technology
    government grants $500 for Car Repair
    government grants $20,000 Start a Free Newspaper
    government grants & loan $200,000 buy a franchise
    government grants $500,000 Flight Tests
    government grants $5000 Home Purchase
    government grants $ 20,000 Salon
    government grants & loan $50,000 Day Care Center
    government grants $25,000 Learning Center
    government grants $500,000 Popcorn
    government grants $500,000 Aluminum Recycle
    government grants $800,000 Innovative technology
    government grants $500 for Car Repair
    government grants $20,000 Start a Free Newspaper
    government grants & loan $200,000 buy a franchise
    government grants $500,000 Flight Tests
    government grants $5000 Home Purchase
    government grants $ 20,000 Boutique
    government grants & loan $50,000 Day Care Center
    government grants $25,000 Learning Center
    government grant $15,000 Recital
    government grant $20,000 Book Publishing
    government grants $25,000 Documentary
    government grant & loan $250,000 Manufacturing
    government grant $500,000 Air Charter
    government grant $250,000 Air Cargo
    government grants $50,000 Consultants
    government grant & loan $500,000 Engineering
    government grant $300,000 Consulting

    Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants | Government Grants

    . http://capitalpublications.com/4_government_jobs.html

    http://capitalpublications.com/45_free_government_grants.html
    http://capitalpublications.com/43_free_government_grants.html
    http://capitalpublications.com/43_government_grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/43_government_jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/43_loan_broker.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/43_online_survey_jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/43_paid_survey.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/43_work_at_home_jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/44_Free_Government_Grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/44_Government_Grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/44_paid_surveys.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/44_Work_at_Home_Jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/45_Government_Grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/45_government_jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/45_loan_broker.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/45_online_survey_jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/45_paid_surveys.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/111_Work_at_Home_Jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/333_government_grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/333_work_at_Home_Jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/222_Work_at_Home_Jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/333_Free_Government_Grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/45_Work_at_Home_Jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_Free_Government_Grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_government_grants.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_Loan_Broker.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_online_survey_jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_Work_at_Home_Jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_Work_at_Home_Jobs_Business.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_Work_at_Home_Jobs_opportunities.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/47_Work_at_Home_Jobs_programs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/free-medicine-program.html
    http://www.government-news.org/legitimate-work-at-home-jobs.html
    http://www.capitalpublications.com/free-government-grants.html

    credit repair  http://searchsight.com/65A305P56-Business-To-Business.html http://searchsight.com/24S13P4-District-Of-Columbia.html http://searchsight.com/61T28382P4-Washington.html http://searchsight.com/84A305S13P1-District-Of-Columbia-Business-To-Business.html http://searchsight.com/21A305T28382P1-Washington-Business-To-Business.html http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants/index.php?ba=view_category&category=5316 http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants http://www.topix.net/classifieds/city/miami-fl/T5F8PT4BDL3DF5BQ0 http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants/index.php?ba=view_category&category=5318 http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants/index.php?ba=view_category&category=7153 http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants/index.php?ba=view_category&category=5745 http://richmond.indymedia.org/newswire/display/12267/index.php http://newsblaze.com/story/2005070706004500003.mwir/topstory.html http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants/index.php?ba=product_enlarge&product=44925 http://newjersey.indymedia.org/de/2006/10/11161.shtml http://www.merchantamerica.com/governmentgrants/index.php?ba=product_enlarge&product=59138 http://www.american-classifieds.net/index.php?dat=ucat19 http://kazzoom.com/vol2/college-scholarships/ http://www.kazzoom.com/bad_credit_loans.html http://www.kazzoom.com/search-engines.html http://kazzoom.com/vol2/coaching http://kazzoom.com/vol2/copywriting http://kazzoom.com/vol2/crafts-hobbies http://kazzoom.com/vol2/creativity http://kazzoom.com/vol2/coffee http://kazzoom.com/vol2/credit http://kazzoom.com/vol2/cruising-sailing http://kazzoom.com/vol2/currency-trading http://kazzoom.com/vol2/customer-service http://kazzoom.com/vol2/data-recovery http://kazzoom.com/vol2/debt-consolidation http://kazzoom.com/vol2/debt-relief http://kazzoom.com/vol2/depression http://kazzoom.com/vol2/diabetes http://kazzoom.com/vol2/divorce http://kazzoom.com/vol2/domain-names http://kazzoom.com/vol2/ebooks