James Montgomery
You got sick. You lost your job. A business deal went sour. You did not realize how much you were spending.
For whatever reason, the number $10,000 is the figure on the total balance due on your credit card bill. But you have been able to afford that minimum payment of about $200.00 per month. You just use the card to buy gas and buy dinner every now and then. The balance just never seems to go down though and actually grows little by little.
What is that $10,000 really going to cost you? Have you ever tried to calculate it?
With the new credit card law that has just gone into effect, the card companies have increased rates and lowered credit lines. An interest rate of 27.9% is not infrequent and news reports have a few credit card rates in excess of 70%.
Let's go back to the $10,000 example because it is one that fits a very normal situation. If you use one of the above calculators, you will find that if the rate is 18.9% which appears to be a normal rate for a first escalation, the minimum fee is $600.00. If you only pay the minimum of $200.00 each month, it will take 53 years to pay off your balance, even if you make no more charges and make only the minimum payment on time each month. The really, really bad news is that you will pay $34,336 just in interest just to pay back $10,000!
In another example, the total debt is $30,000 at that same 27.9%. The calculator reports:
Based on the information you provided and assumptions that we used to calculate the time to repay your balance, we estimate that you will never pay off your credit card balance if you only make the minimum payment because your payment is less than the interest charged each month.
If the $30,000 were only at 18.9% with a minimum payment of $600, it would take
75 years and cost $108,453 in interest.
By now, it should be very clear why the credit card business has become so huge and also why the failure rate is skyrocketing. People who have held on now for a year or two are reaching the point where they simply cannot make it much further.
Here are two calculators that are available free on the internet so you can do it yourself.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
http://www.ftc.gov/
With options such as budgeting, debt settlement, and even Chapter 7 bankruptcy looming, you should also be aware of another calculator. It calculates the snowball method of paying off credit card debt by concentrating payments on one card.
Here is where you can find the calculator: http://www.whatsthecost.com/
Find out more about how you can pay off credit card debt Pay Off Credit Card Debt
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