Late Fees and Over-limit Fee on Credit Cards

Late fees and over-limit fees will cost you about $70 per month. If you miss your minimum payment but you are not over your limit, you will pay about $35 for being late and then you will have the next month's billing cycle posted as well. If your regular payment is $50 and you miss the payment deadline, the next month your credit card will go to up $135. This is because you have two months of payments due as well as a $35 late fee. As you can see, the amounts will quickly add up to the point where you can't handle paying them anything.

When the time comes and you can't pay the minimum amount you will want to call the company immediately. You want to tell them the reason that you are no longer able to make the payments. For example, you might have been laid off, fired or been in the hospital. You want to explain your situation but never let them force you into something that you cannot afford to do. You will want to work with them to see what you can do to keep the late fees and over-limit fees from coming.

This is why it's very important to always make your minimum payment. If your income is about the amount that you make per month you will need to be on a strict budget. Write down the expenses every single day so you can keep track. If you notice that you won't be able to make the payment, you will want to cut back on something so you can afford to make the payment. Making the minimum payment this month will mean you don't need to pay twice that amount when the next month rolls around.

If you call your credit card company they will sometimes allow you to set up some type of payment plan. They will tell you the deadline that the first payment must be made. Say for example that you owe a company $200 and it went to collections. If you call the collection company, you can set up a payment plan with them. They will never go longer than 3 months. They will usually not make you pay the entire amount as the bill states. They will want you to pay off what you owe that is past due. Once you pay off the amount that is past due, the remainder of the balance will need to be sent back over to the original company to be paid.

As you can see, late fees and over-limit fees can really get you into a lot of problems. It's hard to make ends meet but when you don't, there are consequences to pay.