Just realized I was paying my credit card wrong for 2 years

So I always thought paying the minimum was fine as long as I paid on time. Then my buddy who's a bank teller asked me my APR and I just shrugged. He pulled up my account and showed me I was racking up $47 in interest every month on a $1200 balance. Now I pay the full statement balance every Friday and my score jumped 30 points in 3 months. Anyone else make this same dumb mistake with their first card?

2 comments

2 Comments

barnes.brian12d ago

Man that's basically the same thing my cousin did with his car loan. He thought paying the minimum was fine until he realized after 18 months he owed more than when he started. He called the bank all confused and they just said "yeah that's how interest works." Same week he told me that story I found out my gym membership had been charging me $15 a month for a towel service I never used for like 14 months. Felt like a total idiot. At least you caught it and fixed it.

james_martin9312d ago

Went through something similar with a streaming service I signed up for during a free trial. Forgot to cancel it and they charged me $12 a month for almost two years before I noticed. What finally worked for me was setting a reminder on my phone the day before any free trial ends. That way I actually cancel before the money starts coming out. Also started checking my bank statements every Sunday morning while I have coffee. Catches most stuff before it gets out of hand.