topic Re: Minimum Payment? in Credit Cards

Minimum Payment?

dtran14 — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:05:55 GMT

I know the minimum payment is always $25. But should you always pay the min or go over? Pay as much as you can or $50 or $100? Please advise on how to pay the minium payment!

Re: Minimum Payment?

missjae — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:14:52 GMT

@dtran14 wrote:
I know the minimum payment is always $25. But should you always pay the min or go over? Pay as much as you can or $50 or $100? Please advise on how to pay the minium payment!

If you can, you should always pay more than the minimum if you have to carry a balance. Otherwise, it may take awhile and lots of interest money to pay of the balance. For example: if I have a card with a $1,500 balance, the minimum payment is $60/mo, I would try to pay $100 or more to get the balance down. Most of that $60 payment would go towards interest, especially if the CC has a high interest rate.

If you are taking advantage of a 0% interest offer, I would still pay more than the minimum and try to have it paid in full before the 0 interest offer ends.

Re: Minimum Payment?

colinstu — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:18:18 GMT

The minimum payment *isn't* always $25. Read your card's terms. Usually it's "min payment is $X or X% of balance, whichever is greater."

Also, always try to pay in full (PIF) if you can. If you can't, pay as much as you feel as you can. Making minimum payments are for desparate times where you can't afford to pay any more (or you're making use of a 0% intro apr promo).

Re: Minimum Payment?

myjourney — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 14:00:16 GMT

@missjae wrote:
@dtran14 wrote:
I know the minimum payment is always $25. But should you always pay the min or go over? Pay as much as you can or $50 or $100? Please advise on how to pay the minium payment!
If you can, you should always pay more than the minimum if you have to carry a balance. Otherwise, it may take awhile and lots of interest money to pay of the balance. For example: if I have a card with a $1,500 balance, the minimum payment is $60/mo, I would try to pay $100 or more to get the balance down. Most of that $60 payment would go towards interest, especially if the CC has a high interest rate.

If you are taking advantage of a 0% interest offer, I would still pay more than the minimum and try to have it paid in full before the 0 interest offer ends.

+1 if you can't pay in full

Re: Minimum Payment?

manwoot — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 14:06:25 GMT

A good rule that I've stuck with over the years is if you can't afford to PIF, try to pay at least DOUBLE what the minimum payment is. I figured that way, I could pay down some of the balance and not just interest.

Re: Minimum Payment?

takeshi74 — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 14:53:40 GMT

@dtran14 wrote:
But should you always pay the min or go over? Pay as much as you can or $50 or $100? Please advise on how to pay the minium payment!

As much as possible. Your statement should indicate how long it will take to pay off your balance if you only pay the minimum and how much interest you'll pay as a result. Take a good look at it.