Grrr, I feel so stupid!

[KTP]

I was going over my bank charges for last month and realized I made a payment on my Visa Nov 10. I had that sinking feeling because I realized I had forgotten to make the Dec payment, and sure enough, when I logged onto the website it said payment due Dec 14. Figures. Now I will probably get charged $35 plus the interest for the past months balance even though I pay in full every month. I can't believe I keep over $20,000 in checking earning $0.02 a month and yet one day late with a recurring ~$800 balance payment costs me $35+. Kicking myself. Hard. In the Rear. My only excuse is I was pulling some long hours studying for my electrical engineering finals (aced them).

Ah well, at least I made another $4000 this week in my IRA...go go msft.

[snafu]

Try calling your Visa's customer service and plead for reversal of fee & interest. Explain SO will be v/upset, this was an error yadda yadda. If the agent refuses, ask for the supervisor. Explain that you just don't pay interest/fees and will have to cease using the card if those sums are not removed. They are getting a lot tighter but this works 80% of the time.

Suggestion # 2: Note date three business days in advance of account due dates on both your computer's calendar and cell phone's scheduler. If you don't use a cell phone, use the back of a poster to create a large grid of significant dates. Hang it adjacent to your computer. There is something about writing it down that moves a commitment forward.

[jimmyrules712]

you could schedule an automatic payment to pay the full balance very month (or the minimum) so it's covered if you forget to do it. Just don't get lazy and use that as an excuse to stop checking you balance and transactions.

[krantcents]

I was going over my bank charges for last month and realized I made a payment on my Visa Nov 10. I had that sinking feeling because I realized I had forgotten to make the Dec payment, and sure enough, when I logged onto the website it said payment due Dec 14. Figures. Now I will probably get charged $35 plus the interest for the past months balance even though I pay in full every month. I can't believe I keep over $20,000 in checking earning $0.02 a month and yet one day late with a recurring ~$800 balance payment costs me $35+. Kicking myself. Hard. In the Rear. My only excuse is I was pulling some long hours studying for my electrical engineering finals (aced them).

Ah well, at least I made another $4000 this week in my IRA...go go msft.

You can avoid those kinds of problems by using online banking. You can set up payments automatically plus no stamps.

[KTP]

You can avoid those kinds of problems by using online banking. You can set up payments automatically plus no stamps.

I do use online banking, but I had refrained from auto paying the credit card balance in full each month because I could envision a scenario where a theft of the card and some major charges could drain down my bank account before I realized a problem. The card has some crazy high limit like $55,000 so in theory the balance could get higher than my usual daily average of my checking account. Perhaps I am being overly cautious though.

The (now) obvious solution is to have the minimum payment automatically paid from my checking account each month and then log on sometime before the payment due date and pay the entire balance if things look legit.

[creditcardfree]

You can also reduce your credit card limit by calling customer service.

[PMMM]

But asking for a reduction in your credit limit can negatively affect your credit rating. So understand the consequences before doing so.

Pat

[cypher1]

I'd definitely explain to customer service or escalate to supervisor to remove that charge. If you pay your card on time and in full each month, tell them that, and/or threaten to close the account. These days they're making it harder to wave, but bring up the point of how long you've been with them for x amount of years and never missed a payment or was late.

[disneysteve]

I do use online banking, but I had refrained from auto paying the credit card balance in full each month because I could envision a scenario where a theft of the card and some major charges could drain down my bank account before I realized a problem.

You could just set up an automatic payment for a set amount, rather than the full payment. That way, you'd never totally miss a payment. The worst that would happen is you wouldn't pay the full balance and would get hit with some interest but at least you'd avoid the late fee.

[Slug]

First, those fees are completely negotiable. Do exactly what snafu said.

Second, you should set up auto-payment in full and do better monitoring of your transactions. If you are going through an entire billing cycle without at least glancing at your transactions, you probably aren't in tune enough with your spending. I'm carrying at least 5 cards (to max out different rewards) and follow the transactions around once a week in personal finance aggregator site (Yodlee). Another popular site is Mint. Additionally, your liability on a stolen card is pretty limited anyway so I wouldn't let that low risk cause you to take on the monthly risk of forgetting to pay. Set it on autopay and forget that worry.

[CentsToShare]

But asking for a reduction in your credit limit can negatively affect your credit rating. So understand the consequences before doing so.

Pat

As a tid bit to digest, it doesn't affect your score as much as credit card companies would like you to believe. And the small effect wears off quickly.

[disneysteve]

If you are going through an entire billing cycle without at least glancing at your transactions, you probably aren't in tune enough with your spending.

I never look at our accounts during the month. I just review the bill when it comes to make sure there are no unrecognized charges and to log charges that are needed for tax purposes.

[MaxPowers]

Can someone explain why someone with a large sum of cash would use a credit card for every day purchases? I have plenty of cash in my account. I use a debit card for everything. My credit cars is used to pay my car insurance. It is actually paid of automatically, but even if it wasn't I would only use it for insurance.

[disneysteve]

Can someone explain why someone with a large sum of cash would use a credit card for every day purchases

Sure.

1. My Marriott Visa earns me reward points for every dollar spent that we use to pay for lodging when we travel. Our Chase Visa earns us points toward a varied reward program - I choose cash back (just got a $100 check a couple of weeks ago). Our Discover card gives us cash back.
2. Our Visa cards offer extended warranties on major purchases, rental car insurance and various other benefits.
3. Using the CC instead of the debit card, I only have one financial transaction to record each month instead of 2-3 dozen individual transactions.
4. Our credit cards provide a year-end summary of all charges broken down by category: grocery, auto, travel, etc. That is a great budgeting tool.
5. When using a debit card for certain things, like gas, hotels, rental cars, etc., the bank places a hold on your account for an amount greater than the actual charge. That hold may take days to come off during which time you don't have access to all of the funds in your account. That doesn't happen with credit cards.
6. I never have to worry about how much money is in my checking account when making a purchase. I know I have anywhere from days to weeks to transfer the money into the account before the bill needs to be paid.
7. If anyone fraudulently uses my credit card, I just report the crime and it is taken care of with no cost or inconvenience to me. With a debit card, the money is gone from my account until the bank investigates and returns the stolen funds, during which time I'm out the money.

I'm sure others can think of some reasons I forgot.

[snafu]

DS has it nailed, + if timing works out, charges incurred after cut off January is billed on the February cycle which is paid in early March without interest or fees.

Our CC places a 'hold' for sums greater than the charge when for travel and accommodation in foreign countries so it's a good idea to check with your specific CC before booking. Charging in foreign currencies is beneficial as CC give a significantly better exchange rate than most banks or currency exchange businesses.