You are pre-approved! Every time I check my mail there is at least one or two pre-approved credit card applications. You get them too, I’m sure. You can even have terrible credit and they still continue to flood your mailbox. And if you just filed bankruptcy you will get more of them than you know what to do with!

Credit card debt is so easy to get into–over and over again. Most people don’t feel like they are spending real money until the bill comes, and then it’s too late. The credit card companies know how to make it very tempting to fall back on any good habits we’ve created and just spend away. It’s hard to get away from, but we have to resist temptation.

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Many mastercard holders join up for a credit account with an 8.9% interest rate and then later realize that their interest rate has been bumped to 27.4%. Why?

You know that your credit score affects the credit card rates that you just qualify for. However, did you know that a very little clause within the fine print of the mastercard terms and agreements, called the “Universal Default Penalty Clause” might mean that you’re already paying the next interest than when you signed up for the mastercard? What will this fine print mean to you?

If your credit score goes down or one in all your alternative credit conditions change, then your interest rate increases significantly. This will not mean any new charges you create to the present particular credit card account: the higher rate affects the whole balance. Yes, even items you purchased with the understanding that your interest rate would remain the first rate.

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