Quote:
Originally posted by Missam05
Wow this thread has been enlightening. Last semester I wasn't able to work or find a job and therefore was unable to pay most of my bills. Now my credit card payments are out of the water and I really don't know what to do. They offered some kind of payment plan but my bank account was just as bad. (Really rough semester.) Anywho I'm debating whether to keep paying the small payments weekly or save up what I can to try and reach the already high minimum amount due. For example..I paid my Visa bill 2 payments totally $100 and the amount due was $230 or something. Not enough they say, I still got charged a LATE fee and an over the limit fee.. It's getting to where I don't want to pay them anything at all if it's doing no good. There's no way on this chicken head salary I can scrape up $221 for two credit companies. Any advice here. I did enroll in a Credit monitoring program who sent me a report from all the bureaus. My credit is fair only b/c of these credit cards being late and really close to the limit.
HELP!
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FYI , there is legislation being introduced to increase the minimum payment due so beware! Back to the cc's, first Missam you will be charge a late fee when balances are not paid on time. So make sure you make the minimum payments (normally, 2% of the balance) ASAP! If you spent the limit, say 1000, and you don't pay by the due date you will be charged a late fee which puts you over the limit then a over the limit fee will be assessed.
Also, beware of credit monitoring programs because all do NOT show your true FICO they show a FAKO. Use
www.myfico.com for FICO scores online. If you want to improve your credit pay your balance down not completely off UNLESS if after you pay it offf you charge again but no more than 30% of the card limit. Anything over the 30% yields high utilization which simply means you have too much debt-- a strike against your FICO.
If you want to pay down your credit card, double your minimum payment. STOP charging! Esp. for small items like gum, pop, hosiery, etc..
A good way to increase your score through credit use is buy enough gas to fill up your tank once a month then pay it off. This is a good but cheap way to use your cc's without ruining your credit and building your score.