Hit with a late fee? What to do.
May 4, 2010
Late fees on credit cards can be very expensive. And for someone trying to pay down an already high balance, they can be downright disastrous.
The average late fee is $39. If you’re incurring late fees every month, that can add up to well over $400 in a year.
What can you do? The obvious answer is, “Don’t pay late.” And really that is the best advice, but here are some ideas to help you do that.
If you have been a long-time customer and have a positive credit history with the credit card company (meaning you always make your payments on time and this really was a one-time slip up), call your creditor and ask if they will waive the late fee. Your creditor is under no obligation to waive the fee, but many creditors will do this for good customers.
Set up your payments to be automatically drafted from your checking each month. If you’re someone who gets busy and just forgets about due dates, this is the easiest way to alleviate the problem. If you do choose to have payments automatically withdrawn from your account, make very sure you have enough money in your checking to cover the payments on their due dates. You don’t want to replace late fees with equally expensive overdraft fees.
If you’re not comfortable with doing automatic withdrawals, create a calendar and mark the due dates for your various bills. If you have a phone that will alert you to events and important dates, set your phone up to remind you about due dates at least a week prior.
If you’re struggling to pay your bills and you need help, call the certified credit counselors at Advantage Credit Counseling Service. We can help you create a budget and come up with a plan to manage your debt.
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