Could examining the way you use credit free money up in your budget? Absolutely. The first thing you need to realize is when you use a credit card you no longer know the price of the item you are purchasing. If, for example, you buy a $30 pair of jeans and consider it a bargain because that was 20% off list price and you use a credit card that charges 18.9%, (the average credit interest rate), you are perhaps thinking that you intend to pay your balance off as soon as the bill arrives. But the reality is, most people carry a large balance on their credit cards. The average household in America now carries close to a whopping $10,000 in credit card debt. At 18.9%, the average household is paying close to $2000 in credit card interest per year, and those particular jeans are now $35.67 in the first year, almost back to full price. If you make only the minimum payment each month on your jeans, their cost by the time they are paid off will be about $52.50. But even if all you have on your credit card is that one pair of jeans, if you miss a payment, you probably just doubled the price of the jeans because of the late fee. More than half of credit card owners incur late fees. And as if that weren’t enough, incurring a late fee usually increases your interest rate on your card as well.
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Plugging Up The Money Drain, Part Ii - Credit
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