Here at Fresh Start Card Offers, we’re always telling people to pay your credit card bills on time, every time, because your payment history affects 35% of your credit score, but did you know that there are other reasons to pay on time, every time?
Not only will that late payment end up triggering automatic late charges and possibly other fees, but you could very well end up with an astronomically high penalty APR! That’s right, your interest rates could skyrocket to as high as 35 to 39%, all because of one late payment.
If you’ve ever read the fine print on the back of your credit card statements, you’ll see a section about your penalty APR in there, trust me. And, that penalty APR can end up costing you a LOT of money over the course of paying off the loan or credit card that you were late on because it’s not likely to be reduced later on. (Creditors almost never lower the interest rate once they’re raised.)
Even worse, one late payment can affect your chances of getting good interest rates everywhere! Home loans, car loans, other credit cards, and personal loans can be affected for years. Your best bet? Sit down and make a budget that you can live with, then set up automatic payments on as many of your bills as you’re comfortable having set up to pay on time, every time. And then…
Live Within Your Budget!