Dirty Tricks From Credit Cards

· Dirty Trick No. 1:

Say "Bye-Bye" to Your Grace Period

No grace period means that you’ll start accruing interest the moment you charge something and that can cost you a bundle of “extra” interest. Most credit card issuers have already reduced their grace period from 25 days to 20 days. Many others have eliminated the grace period altogether. Now they are coming up with more and more reasons to take away your grace period. Miss a payment? Stop carrying a balance? Bye-bye grace period

· Dirty Trick No. 2:

Punishing You for Being Smart
These fees are the lowest of the low because they penalize you for being a responsible credit card user. Some of the biggest offenders include charging you a fee for:
· Closing your account
· Failing to use a card for a period of time (such as six months or a year)
· Not carrying a balance
· Every transaction each and every time that you use your card

· Dirty Trick No. 3:

Sending "Convenience" Checks
Credit cards often send you "convenience" checks so that you can write checks against your credit card account. Isn't that nice of them? Please! DON'T do us any "favors"! What they bury in the fine print is that these checks usually carry a very high interest and fees -- even higher than regular credit card charges. Some cards also give you no grace period

· Dirty Trick No. 4:

Inviting You to Skip a Payment
In their infinite generosity (ha!), some cards will "invite" you to skip a payment. This "helpful" offer, which sounds great at first blush, often comes after the holidays when your balance is big and your wallet is stretched. DON'T DO IT! Skipping that payment can lead to a host of trouble from a higher interest rate to possibly having to make extra payments in the future. Are you starting to notice a pattern?! You should be skeptical whenever your credit card company does something "nice" for you without you asking for it

· Dirty Trick No. 5:

· Lowering Your Minimum Payment

Another way some cards try to jack up their profits and lure you deeper into debt is by lowering the minimum payment due on your balance. It used to be cards required a minimum monthly payment of about 4% of your balance, but many now require as little at 2%. Don't fall for it! Going from a $40 payment to a $25 payment on a $2,500 balance means it will take you an extra 19 months to pay offDirty Trick No. 6:

Tricky Timing

We all know that our payment is due on a certain date or it's late, right? But a new twist being thrown into the mix is having your payment due by a certain time on the due date. If your payment is due at noon, and gets processed at 12:01, you get socked with a late fee AND likely a higher interest rate. Gimme a break! Carefully check your statement so you avoid this trap.

your balance

· Dirty Trick No. 7: