How Bad are Credit Card Minimum Payments?

Getting through another month without overdrawing your bank account and without incurring any more late fees feels like a win.  You should congratulate yourself by doing something that ostensibly doesn’t cost any money, like going for a walk for the length of time it takes to listen to three songs or procrastinating going to bed by five minutes while you stare into space. Of course, nothing is free when you have been living from paycheck to paycheck for as long as you can remember. That time you spent on leisure instead of gig work, even if your leisure time added up to less than an hour, means less money on your next payday from your freelance job.  It also means less sleep and more sleep debt, so you will be less productive tomorrow, and you will get less money even though you spend more time on work.  Breaking even is hard work. If you are making only the minimum payments on your credit cards, you might feel like you are breaking even, but you are probably sinking deeper into debt.  If you can barely afford your credit card minimum payments, even as your credit card balances climb upward, contact an Oakland lawsuits, collections, and creditor harassment lawyer.

Buying Time to Pay Your Debts Costs More Than You Think 

All installment loans have a minimum payment, the minimum amount you must pay to avoid incurring a late fee. When the loan has a fixed principal amount and a preset term of repayment, then the minimum payment is the same each month. The lender calculates it by dividing the principal amount by the number of months until the loan matures and then adding in the interest and fees.

By contrast, credit card payments are a moving target; the principal balance changes from one month to the next, and there is no hard and fast deadline by which you must pay off the balance in full. The credit card company will keep charging you interest as long as you continue carrying a balance, and they are happy to do it. The minimum payment is usually between 2% and 3% of the outstanding balance on your credit card. If you pay the minimum payment this month and continue doing the same every month, without charging any new purchases on your credit card, you will eventually pay off your balance, but it will take several years, and you will pay more interest than if you had only made slightly larger payments each month. An even worse outcome is if you make the minimum payments, but you also keep charging new purchases out of necessity, so your minimum payments keep getting bigger, making it even harder to pay more than the minimum.

Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare About Getting Out of Credit Card Debt

A debt relief lawyer can help you if you are among the many consumers for whom making the minimum payments on your credit card is becoming increasingly difficult. Contact the Law Office of Melanie Tavare in Oakland, California, or call (510)255-4646 for a case evaluation.