Credit cards

Credit cards are a necessary evil. There is a system, so fucking work it.

• Late payments = credit company raises your card’s APR.
• Autopay – For Christ’s sake, wake up, jump into the 21st century and use auto bill pay– avoid the late fees and the ever raising APR that comes along with them.
• Replacment card for no reason = new terms. Sign that card, and call that number to activate the card, and you’ve likely agreed to new terms. Highlight the important parts of your ‘card-member agreement’. For example:
  1. APR, base and maximum
  2. Fees
  3. Billing Period
  4. Due Dates

  – then check out that crap in the new agreement. You can refuse the new terms if you want (Of course they don’t tell you that). End result, you might have to get a new card with decent terms…but it’s better than getting blind-sided with shitty terms.

• Worried to switch cards because of your late payments and your credit rating? How late was your payment? Less than 30 days? Fuck it then…they didn’t report you.
  Payments that are only a few days late aren’t reported (only when over 30, 60, 90, 120 days). Don’t forget tho, late payment = they’re gonna raise your APR. In the meantime grab a free copy of your credit report online and make sure the info is correct.

• Carry a balance–what APR are you paying on each of your credit cards? If you don’t know…you’re screwing yourself. Put another way, why buy gasoline at the expensive station when the cheap one is right across the road? If one card gives you a better rate, use it instead. Don’t pay high fees simply because you were too lazy to look at your latest statment…that’s where your APR is listed by the way…
• Save your statements, in case they screw up…and they probably will- plus you can get it even if their website is down.