🚀 go-pugleaf

amiofc@ibm.net wrote:
: Now, some who have not read this report, may just say this is nothing more 
: than a few pages filled with phrases like "Pay on the highest card first, 
: etc." to "Stop using credit"!  WRONG!!  This report not only talks about
: how to eliminate credit card debt quickly, but also how several/most credit
: card companies will "scam" the consumer by calculating debt differently,
: by setting the minimum payment too low, etc.


Its not a scam, its just that most people make the wrong assumptions.
Credit cards typically set the minimum payment as a fraction of the
total balance; 1/48th is common.  They also set a minimum dollar amount,
like $25.  They have to do this, otherwise the debit would require an
INFINITE number of payments (think about it).  Most people assume that
making the minimum payment will pay off the debt in 48 months.  WRONG.
For example, a $5,000 balance on a credit card with a 19.8% rate, and
a minimum payment of 1/48th of the balance or $25, whichever is larger,
will require 401 payments (just over 33 years) totaling $19,601.

A simple way to pay off a credit card in a known amount of time is to
divide the outstanding balance by the number of payments you wish to make,
then ADD the current finance charge, and pay that same amount every
month (even though the "mininum" payment will decrease) until the debit
is repaid.  To repay the $5,000 from the above example in 48 months,
pay $105 plus the current finance charge EVERY month until the balance
is zero.  Total payments in this case would be "only" $7004.


Ross Oliver
reo@netcom.com