you deserve a late charge if you pay at the last friggin minute. I have a very simple system setup. I have a spreadsheet that has all my reoccuring bills a months, with the due date listed at least 5 days before its actually due. Then i have a box in the amount in which i paid (which i pay rounding up to the next dollar, followed by the month in cents ... jan xx.01, feb xx.02, dec xx.12 to distinguish what month that payment was for) Then i have a box that stipulates how much I payed, then I have a box that shows the date it cleared the bank. Im never late. I had one online payment not go through, but since i checked my banking account to update my spreadsheet, i caught it. Its called responsibilty. And whether the month ends on the 30th or 31 doesn't matter ... its a bill cycle, so the bill cycle will always be the same, regardless of how many months. The reason why it changes is because some bill cycles end on a saturday/sunday and the bill doesn't mail till Monday. So this bogus theory that they are trying to screw you by changing your date is quite the opposite .. .they are extending your due date a couple days since the bill did not mail out till a couple days after it printed.
Call 'em on it. One time I processed my payment online, and the company "forgot" to process it for over a week. When I called them on it (they got it in the day after it was due), they said that since I was a loyal customer and that it was only a day late, they'd wipe off the fee. Just call 'em on it. The worst they can do is say no.
Credit Cards are the greatest thing ever. 1. I don't have to carry cash 2. if someone steals my credit card, I don't have to pay a dime as long as I report it stolen. 3. If I lose my credit card, " " 4. I get free car rental insurance so I dont have to get ripped off when I rent a car. 5. I get 1% cash back which is "free money" 6. My credit company allows me to pay by phone so I buy something now and pay almost a month later. Meanwhile, i get to collect interest (as minute as it is). 7. If somebody rips me off, I can dispute the charge. 8. if something breaks, I have an extended warranty on the item - for free. 9. I have upped my credit score because I have a decent size credit limit and pay off all my bills on time. 10. I get 0% interest cards available if I want (which I don't apply for because it will lower my credit score). Convenient, Safety, Free Cash, Added Protection. Can;t beat it if you're a fiscally responsible person.
Some people are bringing up paying online, that is the only way I do it. The problem is that these things aren't immediate. It takes 2 to 3 business days to process. That's how I got screwed. Last month, the 11th was on a Tuesday. I remembered to pay Friday night. 3 business days to process means that my payment wasn't accepted until Wednesday, the day after. My Visa pisses me off because it's a Bank of America, which is my bank. I can transfer money between my savings and checking instantly, but paying a credit card payment, 2 to 3 days.
I was unemployed for 4+ months. We racked up some debt obviously and a few negative things went on my credit report. I have been working for over 6 months now and have been paying off ALL OF MY DEBT!!!! Now JUST THIS PAST FORKING WEEK, I paid off my next to last credit card. I left my chase card for last due to its low interest rate. They told me when I got this forking card that the rate would be 3.99% for the life of the card. I go to check on the website and the HIKED UP MY GD INTEREST RATE TO 23.99%!!!!!! I call the mother forkers up and ask, WTF? I havent been late. I have been paying double payments. I havent gone over my limit. They said they checked my credit report and there were negative marks on it so the bumped (their forking words) my interest rate up. BUMPED IT UP???? 3 points is bumping it up. 20 GD points is anal raping. I told them to cancel the GD card and that they would never get my business again. I HATE CHASE BANK!!!! I hope they pull an Enron and die die die!!!
i have 2 cards, a bankone that i got when i opened my account, and an american express. the bankone shows up with my account information online, so as soon as i have a charge on it, i can transfer funds from my checking account to it. the american express, i pay online the first day possible. ive never really had any problem, but i did have a citibank visa card right when i turned 18. i made one late payment, and then somehow, on my next bill, they showed me as having a 575 dollar debt (my credit card bill at this time was never really more than 100-200 a month). anyway, i ended up paying it in full, and then on the next bill they showed that they messed up, and they now owed me about 250 bucks or something. but anyway, i tore that card up. i use a debit card 90% of the time. i use american express for online purchases, and i use my bankone credit card for other purchases where id prefer them not to be directly dipping into my checking account. but yeah best advice is pay it RIGHT AWAY, and if you dont have the money, DONT BUY IT!
