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Just up & collected the mail and got my credit card statement. I have it set up to auto pay the balance every month however this month I noticed a new format which details IF you only pay the minimum every month how long it will take you to pay off your balance.
I OWE this month $59.10.
The Minimum payment required per month is $10
Based on this it would take me ELEVEN MONTHS to pay off my balance of $59.10 if I only made the minimum payment every month
Talk about HIGHWAY ROBBERY in the disguise of an International Bank! WOW!!!
From the day credit cards arrived I resisted but finally had to get one so that when I was sent somebody through my work and had to rent a car I needed a credit card. I'd also hate to think the charges that would rack up if a payment was missed.
I am like you and always pay mine off in full each month although it is surprising how small the minimum payment actually is. no wonder people get into debt.
I think credit cards can be used to your advantage but only if, like you guys, you settle the account promptly each month. We have M & S platinum store cards that we use for just about every purchase, we seldom use cash.
That way we get bonus points and every quarter we get cash vouchers to spend in store. We also get a bunch of coffee/hot drinks vouchers every quarter plus numerous £10 vouchers through the year and another voucher for birthday tea in any of their Cafes. I pay £10 a month for these benefits which in our case are worth around £400 a year.
Thankfully the credit card surcharge or commission, whatever they like to call it, has now been curbed. Some suppliers were charging around 2.5% which on a holiday booking for say £2000 would add a further £50. Rip off but at least that has now stopped.
I have always refused to pay to use a credit card. Mostly here there are only two - MasterCard (no fees) and Visa (which for some has no fees attached) but I think on that one I get 1% credited back on purchases.
Down in the States however there are LOTS of different credit cards and many will essentially GIVE a credit card to anybody but they charge pretty hefty fees if you ever miss a payment.
What is also popular are the PayDay Advance companies. I've never used one but my sense is you can go in and get an advance on your pay cheque but from what I've read their fees are over the top so much so in the States there was an investigation into their practices which bordered on Loan Sharking where the daily fees would put you into a "Never Able to PayBack" territory.
Was quite surprised to see that it would be 11 months to have to pay back a paltry $59.10 charge at nearly double. Whoa.
You should seesome of the rates charged by Pay Day lenders in the UK, downright criminal and the government should step in and ban them, mind you I did hear that some Tory MP's were part of one of these loan shark companies. The thing is it is those least able to pay that get into this trap.
I've heard, in the USA, of some of these companies charging rates like 28% compounded daily so a small $100 loan ballooned into the person owing thousands!
Digressing somewhat, as is my wont, my bank, and no doubt others, offers a rewards scheme. For £2 a month I get a reward of 3% for all direct debit payments. As I have it set up that ALL my regular household bills are paid by direct debit, I accumulate a useful sum that we forget about until say Christmas when I transfer it to my current account to ease the Christmas load.
We get our £10 a month credit card fee refunded many times over with cash vouchers and coffee vouchers and the same applies to the awards scheme.
A total number of 222,000 citizens have “voluntarily” deleted their ration cards after deeming themselves “ineligible” for subsidised commodities, according to Minister of Supply Mohamed Abu Shady....
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Definitely a significant number of people making, what am sure in Egypt right now given the hard times, a magnanimous gesture.
but at least that has now stopped. 
