The Best Thing We've Seen On a Credit Card Bill - Ever.

I'm going to go out on a limb and give politicians and possibly even Democrats a little credit here, although I'm not sure they deserve it. Recently, Congress passed Credit Card reforms, aimed at being more fair with consumers. I will be the first to admit, in some circumstances, Democrats do look out for us better than Republicans. Though they don't seem to know much about the economy, when it comes to personal finance, at least they have our back - I think.

Keeping ahead of- or away from - your credit cards is a key part of financial stability. Becoming dependent on them is like being hooked on Heroin...... eventually, it takes everything away from you. One of the best ways to avoid the trap is to pay off your bakances as fast as possible. When you pay the minimum, you keep yourself in that trap much longer than you need to. So what am I talking about?

This week, I got my credit card bill from Capital One, and for the first time, I got a chart showing just how paying a little more each month will drastically pay it off quicker - almost exponentially faster than paying the minimum. I'll give you some personal info here. I oweabout $1850 to Capital One. If I make the minimum payment of $52 a month, it will take me 16 YEARS to pay off the balance - just in time for retirement.... Not quite. However, if I just increase the payment to a steady $70 a month, I will have it paid off in 3 years - 5 times faster !! It will also save me $2450 in finance charges. Nice, eh?

Did I figure this out with my finance chart and slide rule? Nope. It was right on my statement. Does this have anything to do with the reforms Congress passed? I'm not sure yet, but we'll be waiting for our other credit card bill with anticipation to find out.....

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