You shouldn't lose any cash back. To give you a rough idea of your interest charge....take the current balance and whatever the balance will be after you pay what you can, divide it by 2 (to get an average balance) and multiply that by .20 (your interest rate) and divide by 12.
example: say you can pay $2000 of the $3000.
(3000+1000)/2 = 2000
2000x0.20= 400
400/12= $33.33
it will give you an approximate amount of interest of $33.33 on the next statement. This gives me an idea of what the interest charge will be....I'm usually within a few dollars plus or minus.
Just make sure when you finally pay it off, to watch your next Statement for any trailing interest. Once you've carried a balance, there may still be a small interest charge after payoff.
its not the end of the world to carry a balance for a couple of months.
@Anonymous wrote:
I just went on vacation and realized the CC bill got a little crazy. It's basically maxed out. I'm nervous about coming up with the funds to PIF by the next due date of August 7th (statement cut July 10).
I'm not sure how it works to carry a balance on a CC if I can't come up with the full $3000 to pay in the next couple weeks.
I still have expenses I have to add to the cars such as $500 for my 6mth auto policy renewal that can't wait until the next statement. Also groceries.
Vacations are what got me in trouble with my first college credit cards so I don't want to make the same mistakes, even though I do have a cash flow now that I didn't have back then.
What happens exactly with a CC if a balance is kept? How does APR work? My card has high APR 20%. Will it basically be my charges plus 20% each month? Sorry if this sounds stupid but I honestly still don't know how exactly credit cards work!
If I do carry a balance of say $1k to next month when I can PIF, what will happen? Will I loose cash back. Will I pay APR? I have the cap1 Journey card.
Thanks I'm just really lost here!
Just pay it off as fast as you can and stop using the card until you get it down to zero. Do not put any new charges on it!
@Anonymous wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I just went on vacation and realized the CC bill got a little crazy. It's basically maxed out. I'm nervous about coming up with the funds to PIF by the next due date of August 7th (statement cut July 10).
I'm not sure how it works to carry a balance on a CC if I can't come up with the full $3000 to pay in the next couple weeks.
I still have expenses I have to add to the cars such as $500 for my 6mth auto policy renewal that can't wait until the next statement. Also groceries.
Vacations are what got me in trouble with my first college credit cards so I don't want to make the same mistakes, even though I do have a cash flow now that I didn't have back then.
What happens exactly with a CC if a balance is kept? How does APR work? My card has high APR 20%. Will it basically be my charges plus 20% each month? Sorry if this sounds stupid but I honestly still don't know how exactly credit cards work!
If I do carry a balance of say $1k to next month when I can PIF, what will happen? Will I loose cash back. Will I pay APR? I have the cap1 Journey card.
Thanks I'm just really lost here!Just pay it off as fast as you can and stop using the card until you get it down to zero. Do not put any new charges on it!
The reason for the last comment (I know you said you had to, but...): once you carry a balance, on most cards you lose any grace period, so, any new charges start incurring interest as soon as they post. You generally will need to PIF, once you are able, for two consecutive cycles to get rid of all interest charges.
As others have pointed out, 20% is the APR, so the monthly cost is 1/12th of that (approx, they use daily rates, so they can calculate once the grace period goes away).
The thing to avoid is paying interest every month(carrying a balance and just paying the minimum): while not desirable, paying interest for a few months during times of difficulity isn't going to be catastrophic.
+1