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I was just reviewing my terms & payments for my GEMB CareCredit card.
We were given $1K CL, int-free for 10 months, as long as we made min payments & bal is PIF by the end of the 10-mo period.
The min. payments required for this card are only $28/mo. I never really analyzed this payment plan, but now that I think about it, at $28/mo, only $280 would be paid by the end of those terms and then we'd be stuck w/ CareCredit's legendary high int rates on a balance of about $600 from then until forever.... most people wouldn't sit down and really think about how the min pmt they're making is going to affect their payoff later on. When I heard the terms & the 10-mo payoff plan, I just assumed without ever giving it a second thought that by paying what they requested, we would be paid off by the end of those terms!
DUH. I'm so glad we've been paying so much more than min due - by the end of this month it will be more than half paid off. I considered myself pretty financially savvy before I discovered this site, but I really don't think I was. Maybe more aware than the average American consumer, but that's not really saying much :\
Always, read very carefully the Terms & Conditions of any credit contract. Never, take for granted what a salesperson may tell you. If it’s not in the T& C it does not exist. Your creditor will only hold “YOU” responsible for the contract.
Unfortunately the average american consumer does not read or does not understand fully the terms and conditions of credit contracts.
In my opinion, you are pretty financially savvy. You took the first step by reading the T&C.
Clean
@FretlessMayhem wrote:
Some places are even sneakier with offers like that.
The Guitar Center credit card has 12 months no interest. Let's say I charge $1000 on it, and pay it down to $5 at the end of the 12 month period. Since I didn't pay it off entirely, I then would owe back interest on the entire original balance of $1000 with their outrageous APR of 24 percent.
That's exactly why I never applied for their POS CC. I would be much better off paying on a "normal" CC instead.
*picks jaw up off of floor* I can't even believe they do that... I knew about CareCredit's terms right off the bat but I don't generally read any other T&C
FretlessMayhem wrote:
Some places are even sneakier with offers like that.
The Guitar Center credit card has 12 months no interest. Let's say I charge $1000 on it, and pay it down to $5 at the end of the 12 month period. Since I didn't pay it off entirely, I then would owe back interest on the entire original balance of $1000 with their outrageous APR of 24 percent.
That's exactly why I never applied for their POS CC. I would be much better off paying on a "normal" CC instead.
FretlessMayhem wrote:
Some places are even sneakier with offers like that.
The Guitar Center credit card has 12 months no interest. Let's say I charge $1000 on it, and pay it down to $5 at the end of the 12 month period. Since I didn't pay it off entirely, I then would owe back interest on the entire original balance of $1000 with their outrageous APR of 24 percent.
That's exactly why I never applied for their POS CC. I would be much better off paying on a "normal" CC instead.