Check your CC due dates....

[dullard]

Yes, in the last year several credit card companies have been cutting the due date back a week. The sooner they get your money, the more money they make. The long grace periods were an easy way for them to raise their profits without touching the big items that people usually use to judge a credit card (interest rate and rewards). The change is always in the paper bill, but yes, the websites don't really tell you the date change very clearly.

AutoPayment.JPG This is how you set up an automatic payment. Select the minimum payment method and then every month your minimum payment is paid automatically. Never a late fee, never a problem with your credit scores, etc. You'd be a moron to not do that. Then pay the rest each month once you see the balance and have time to transfer funds to your checking account.

If you happen to have a large checking account balance, then you can set it up to automatically pay the whole bill. But I find that risky because I keep my checking account small and my money in some place that earns better interest.

 

[alkemyst]

Most will not agree with auto pay being the smart move. There are a lot of horror stories and if you were to be affected you are out cold hard cash until resolved.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Can't, don't have any.

How do you buy airline tix or shop online? Use someone else's CC?

Do you carry a lot of cash instead?

I know there are people who won't get a CC b/c they are afraid of getting into debt with them, but that's crazy. Just pay it off in full each month. It's like I got to borrow their money interest free for 30 days.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: effowe
On a side note, I just paid off my credit card this week, woohoo.

I still have about $12.55 to go before all my CC debt is gone.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Can't, don't have any.

How do you buy airline tix or shop online? Use someone else's CC?

Do you carry a lot of cash instead?

I know there are people who won't get a CC b/c they are afraid of getting into debt with them, but that's crazy. Just pay it off in full each month. It's like I got to borrow their money interest free for 30 days.

I actually have had them in the past, but it just wasn't worth it. I seldom used them more than once or twice a year anyway. Now I just use other people's, or I pick up a prepaid for specific purposes and then discard them.

I work on a 100% cash basis. Don't even have checks. Actually, I don't have a bank account either - at least not with any money in it (only use it to cash checks).

 

[Casawi]

Originally posted by: halik
if you don't have a history of being late, usually you can call them and have them removed.

very true.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always stay on top of that. It could mean my server/online services being down, for good, otherwise.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: KK

But they should notify you someway that the due date has changed.

it's on the paper bill...however, many CC websites don't give you the full info the paper statement does, especially on rate and terms.

The CC with this company had a late pay due to their own error...they fixed it as far as the late charge, but they did not correct the rate (went 8.9% to 26.99%)...I didn't realize this until about 6 months went by when I was reviewing my accounts for balance transfers.

I closed this account due to them not wanting to correct this issue. The quote was 'whether it was their fault or not, my payment was still late and in your agreement you have agreed to have this count as a default'.

I am trying to get the last $3k out of this company to another card, but no one is offering any deals.

howa bout listing the scum credit card issuer?

 

[StageLeft]

I don't know why but it seems my CCs give me a monthly statement like four times/week. I obsessively check them but I was 1-2 days late for the first time ever quite recently. I had the charge reversed (and it only dings credit if it's 30+). I was more than willing to drop the CC immediately and close the account if they didn't grant leniency.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Most will not agree with auto pay being the smart move. There are a lot of horror stories and if you were to be affected you are out cold hard cash until resolved.

ding ding ding Winner! give this man a cigar!

have YOUR bank's billpay send the $ to the credit card company. NEVER let the credit card company (or anybody you owe) pull $ from your acct.

toooooooo many things can go wrong somewhere down the line. and all the headaches that go along with it. even if 1 thing goes wrong it's not worth it.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Many online payment services for CC's have an e-mail alert you can set up to notify you X number of days before a payment is due. All of my cards have this option. It has saved me in the past.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: JEDI

howa bout listing the scum credit card issuer?

wamu

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: dullard
Yes, in the last year several credit card companies have been cutting the due date back a week. The sooner they get your money, the more money they make. The long grace periods were an easy way for them to raise their profits without touching the big items that people usually use to judge a credit card (interest rate and rewards). The change is always in the paper bill, but yes, the websites don't really tell you the date change very clearly.

AutoPayment.JPG This is how you set up an automatic payment. Select the minimum payment method and then every month your minimum payment is paid automatically. Never a late fee, never a problem with your credit scores, etc. You'd be a moron to not do that. Then pay the rest each month once you see the balance and have time to transfer funds to your checking account.

If you happen to have a large checking account balance, then you can set it up to automatically pay the whole bill. But I find that risky because I keep my checking account small and my money in some place that earns better interest.

Why would anyone want to pay only the "minimum payment" rather than the full balance?
I have auto debit for all my credit card accounts and it's setup to pay the full balance due.

I don't have to worry about coming back to pay the remaining amount, or seeing a finance charge added to my next billing statement.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Can't, don't have any.

How do you buy airline tix or shop online? Use someone else's CC?

Do you carry a lot of cash instead?

I know there are people who won't get a CC b/c they are afraid of getting into debt with them, but that's crazy. Just pay it off in full each month. It's like I got to borrow their money interest free for 30 days.

I actually have had them in the past, but it just wasn't worth it. I seldom used them more than once or twice a year anyway. Now I just use other people's, or I pick up a prepaid for specific purposes and then discard them.

I work on a 100% cash basis. Don't even have checks. Actually, I don't have a bank account either - at least not with any money in it (only use it to cash checks).

Do you stuff money under your mattress?
Either that or you must be a welfare recipient.

 

[darkxshade]

I'm guessing you opted out of paper statements but shouldn't you be at least signing up for email alerts for when payment is due within 10 days or so?

 

[imported_Lothar]

I was late in paying my AMEX bill 2 months ago.
The due date was on a Sunday. I paid it online on Monday morning the next day around 7:30am before going to work. I didn't call anyone, and I never received any finance charges on last months statement or the current one.

Anyone think they noticed? I didn't even bother to call them for anything. I just kept quiet.

 

[dsfunk]

Chase has done this to me three times. I've gotten the charge removed all three times and any record of it off of my credit report. I make approximately 4 payments a month on credit cards because of my job and expense reimbursements. They are sneaky bastards. If you are a good customer, bitch or threaten to close your account until they do what you want.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
I'm guessing you opted out of paper statements but shouldn't you be at least signing up for email alerts for when payment is due within 10 days or so?

I get paper statements...I just use them for record.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Lothar
Do you stuff money under your mattress?
Either that or you must be a welfare recipient.

QFT..we have a lot of losers around here that almost brag at the checkout: "CREDIT CARD? BAH I USE CASH ONLY!"

meanwhile I have to wait for them to flip through all the money they own in the world 20 times to find 'a ten or five' because "I DON'T USUALLY CARRY SMALL BILLS"

Look dickwads, if you only use cash you should be carrying small bills. Those that are only carrying large bills, usually have debit / credit and are using that cash as insurance if they run into a place that doesn't take plastic or need to split a bill.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Dont do autopay?

how do you autopay a credit card?

you don't know that you're going to spend

With my credit union I can set up the credit card autopay to pay either the minimum amount due or the entire balance each month.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: JDub02
also, if you pay your CC bills online, make sure your scheduled payments process. this happened to me once. my scheduled payment disappeared. i called them up with the confirmation number i had and they didn't have any record of it. they ended up removing all fees from the account and let me pay it then.

Exact same thing happened with me on my amex this month. But in my case, they called me because they found it strange that I had "missed" a payment. They ended up removing the late fees and took my payment over the phone with the "promise" that they'll look into why my scheduled payment ended up getting "unscheduled."

 

[Spineshank]

I had Chase do the same thing to me this month.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: halik
if you don't have a history of being late, usually you can call them and have them removed.

Actually, most credit card companies use it as an excuse to raise your rate to 20%+.
They days, of loyalty to customers, are gone.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: spidey07
This is why you ALWAYS read your statements that are mailed to you. They can and frequently do change your due dates.

I hate this practice. It's a shady way to try and squeeze late fees out of good customers who pay their bills on time.

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Lothar
Do you stuff money under your mattress?
Either that or you must be a welfare recipient.

QFT..we have a lot of losers around here that almost brag at the checkout: "CREDIT CARD? BAH I USE CASH ONLY!"

meanwhile I have to wait for them to flip through all the money they own in the world 20 times to find 'a ten or five' because "I DON'T USUALLY CARRY SMALL BILLS"

Look dickwads, if you only use cash you should be carrying small bills. Those that are only carrying large bills, usually have debit / credit and are using that cash as insurance if they run into a place that doesn't take plastic or need to split a bill.

Well, those losers aren't paying late fees because they can't figure out when their credit card bills are due and those losers aren't paying off $27,000 in credit card debt so maybe if they annoy you a little bit that's a good thing.