(I know this thread is OLD, but didn't want to start a new one on same topic.) Sorry, this is long... I first heard about the CC's raising the "Minumum Due" from 2% to 4% about 2 yrs ago (give or take). I wasn't very concerned at that time, since I ALWAYS have paid more than the min due (at least double, sometimes even 4 times min due). Then several months later I read about it again. This time I was a little more concerned - since we'd had some "emergencies" which resulted in MORE CC debt. Once all the emergencies were charged to CC's, I sat down and analyzed ALL my open acct's, all my paid off CC's, all my "Balance Transfer Offers", AND, If I didn't have an offer on the other CC's - balance or not -, I called them to see what they could offer. I charted EVERYTHING: Name of CC's and acc't #'s and Customer Service phone #s (that I already hold), current APR's, Available Credit Limits, Current Balances, Method of Computing to get Min Bal Due on outstanding Balance- (some were a % of outstanding Balance, some were Outstanding Bal divided by 48, and one was a % PLUS whatever the last finance chg was), etc. Once I had all the info down in speadsheet style, I called all the rest to fill in the gaps - (like on the one's I hadn't used for a long time & didn't have current info) Once I had all the info, I analyzed it to death! LOL! I had some GREAT bal trf offers on a couple - BUT OOPS! I have an outstanding Balance on THOSE... I have THESE offers, not so great, not so bad either - OOPS! Have an outstanding balance there too! But HERE'S one I haven't used for awhile - no Balance. NOT IN THE SAME "FAMILY" - Fair Bal Trf Offer, high enough credit line, only good for 4 months! My goal was to get cards A B C D E trf'd (re-distributed) as quickly and cheaply as possible (without opening ANOTHER NEW CC) to cards A B C at the great rates. I had great offer for cards A B C, fair for D & E - but they had balances on them. Then, had that "other card - M." Trf'd D to M. Once D trf went thru (& had 0 bal), trf'd A & B to D...once THAT went thru, Trf'd BACK from D to A..., etc. OK, Now that I KNOW most are COMPLETELY CONFUSED and wondering what this crazy lady is talking about...haha... Anyway - it took me about 5 months to complete the process (a little long, but I'm slow these days). It's just a matter of "redistribution" - which can work in your favor if done CORRECTLY. (NEVER trf a balance to a card with a low APR if you have a balance on that card. And, once you do the TRF - DO NOT USE IT A AGAIN until that bal trf is paid off!) Which brings me to this - another problem: When all done, which card(s) do I need to have freed up for "other emergencies"??? That was a big factor in the redistribution plan also. NOW GETTING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SUBJECT AT HAND... After all my "redistributing" went thru, I had 1 card with a high balance (for ME anyway). I had already planned out that I would pay "X" amount of $$$ towards each card every month, and they would be paid off in "X" amount of months. When I heard (AGAIN) about the 4% Min Due on outstanding balances, I took a second "look" at my balances - (again, pen to paper to analyze) - and I got somewhat concerned about that ONE with the big balance. I actually read a THIRD time that by end of 2006, ALL the CC's would be doing the 4% thing! I called that one CC company and asked when my minimum pymt would go up to the 4%, and they told me it would NOT! I explained I've been reading about this for a couple of years now, and the last report was by end of year, and I just need to plan for it. They actually told me not to believe those "scare tactics"! haha! I was told that this would NOT happen to me, as I am in good standing (pay every month on time, don't go over credit limit, don't bounce checks, etc.), and as long as I keep that up, it will not effect me. Now this info was told to me around the first couple of months of this year-2006. (Feeling like I need to call again! LOL!) It's not like I "CAN'T" pay the increase. The problem is that I would have to re-adjust my pay plan - meaning I would have to take some money from the "others" to make the min pymt on this - thus the "others" would take longer to pay off. (The BIG one is at the lowest APR "until paid in full".) OH WONDERFUL - Now I have to go re-analyze again! But then, I've been doing that for so many years now, that I feel like I am a "self-proclaimed/self-taught debt analyst"! LOL! Just wondering - anyone out there been HIT with the 4% Min Due on outstanding Balances yet????

Hi breenthumb, Rumour has it that there are other insurance companies. Granted, there are fewer than there used to be, as they, like most corporations, hate competition on their own level and will go to great lengths to get rid of competitors. Some time ago I had a personal tax-deferred retirement account with a stockbrokerage, which had incurred no administration cost for years, as it had been grandfathered that way when that company took over another company. When I came to the age where I had to reverse it from an account into which I paid in, into one into which I could no longer pay in, but must withdraw a certain percentage annually, which increases from about 7% at age 71 to 20% at age 90 and beyond, a problem arose. They said that there would be an annual administration fee, and my claim that it was a continuation/reversal of a fee-free account that I'd had with them for years fell on quite deaf ears. So ... I did some checking with some other agencies, and came back to report that, since such and such a company and so and so company would agree to carry my account without an administration fee, I was considereing transferring my account ... they seemed to have a change of heart, for it appeared that they, too, could carry that account without an admin. fee. Which they've done for about 10 years, now: nice to have a little skill and effort save one well over $1,000., on occasion, right? I didn't feel it necessary to include in my report the fact that I would be somewhat less inclined to use the other companies than the one that I had been with for years ... as Grandma used to say, "One should tell the truth ... but there's no reason that one should blab and tell all that one knows". So ... ... if you don't, or haven't owed money for several recent years in several locations/circumstances ... ... they figure that your trustworthiness is suspect, do they? As I've lived in over 20 locations in my 79 years (as I discovered when they asked over on KT in how many places one had lived), I've never owned a home ... ... so never had a mortgage. As I live fairly frugally, I've had few loans. Which situation is aided by the fact that I tend to buy old cars and drive them into the ground, which usually takes 5 - 7 years ... which enables me to buy them for cash (having added a bit to emergency funds from time to time, and drawing on it to make those smallish purchases). When I have substantial debt and must pay quite a lot of interest every month, it seems to me that, since much of our debt is usually non-deductible, if I have to pay $100. monthly in interest, and make $10.00 per hour, after-tax income ... that means that I work 10 hours/month for someone else, the holder of my loan(s). I'd rather wait until I can afford to pay cash ... and pay myself, instead. Learning how money works is an interesting hobby ... that pays well ... and I hope that you're developing increasing shrewdness at managiong your income and assets effectively: to benefit you rather than the other guys (with the exception of worthy charities). Hope you're part way into a happy weekend. One nice thing about retirement is ... that every day is weekend. A nice benefit of learning skillful management of money may well be/quite likely will be ... early retirement (at your choice, not because your company downsizes when you're about 50 ... leaving you out in the cold). ole joyful P.S. I could qualify, as I've had a Line of Credit, usually unused, for about 10 years, and have had a credit (actually "debt") card for several years, which I use infrequently. I recently took on another, which offered 1.9% on transferred balances for most of this year, figuring that I'd buy some stock using the original card, then transfer the balance, as the bank, which had usually charged me bank prime on my loans (fully secured), they recently said that prime was 3.5% ... but they needed a 1.5% surcharge, to total 5%. Now, however, they say that the interest on my Line of Credit will be 2.25% ... so I'll take that, instead of jockeying on credit cards - not a good idea to shift from one horse to another while crossing a stream, I figure. Most cards charge full rate (often 18% on mainline cards: 28% or so on store-issued cards) from the date of the advance until it is paid in full, and I'd not be sure how long it would take to transfer to the second card. o j

9 active cards may be a temptation, but the fact is that the credit companies look at how much of your available credit you've used up. So, say you have 10 cards that have a limit of $1000 each--total $10,000. You owe $800/card--total $8000. You pay off one card, so your total owed is now $7200. That's 72% of your credit limit. Now, if you cancel the card you just paid off, your total credit limit is $9000, and the $7200 is 80% of that. The percentage of unused credit has gone down. This makes you look like a worse credit risk than if you had left that card account open--even though you're improving your handling of money by paying off cards. Don't cancel any cards unless you're really a serious shopping addict and will spend the day buying on QVC using account numbers off your old statements out of the file cabinet. Instead, freeze them in a block of ice, put them under the mattress, even cut them up--just keep the accounts open. At least until you've gotten several cards paid off. I actually like Karla's system a lot. As an aside, i'm always surprised at how many cards my credit report shows i have. There are a couple of store cards that I haven't seen in years, but they're still on there. To say nothing of the fact that AMEX for some reason has me down as having had something like 5 cards, when I've only ever had 1 at a time. Go figure. They must have counted each time the acct number changed or something. So 9 cards isn't really too bizarre. To make it even more confusing, I've gotten 'adverse action' notices a couple of times (that's where they send a form letter saying that something in my credit made me get less than the absolute best deal). In the 'reasons' section, it said both that I had too many credit accounts and too few. Huh? WTF? Be sure before you start house-shopping to pull at least one copy of your credit report (DH's too), and pay the extra money for your credit score. Make sure you've gotten any errors handled.

Hi Scarlett2001 Much of the stuff that they do is not written in stone: there's wiggle room. If you call them and make a good case, perhaps they may cancel the increase, or reduce it, or extend the date at which it takes effect, etc. If they turn you down on one proposal, suggest another. Be courteous and pleasant: be sure to mention all of the different aspects of how good a customer you've been (without emphasizing the issue that they've transferred so little interest from your pocket into theirs). If one proposal fails, have figured out ahead of time which other one you'd prefer and run through them one by one, checking them off as you go. Be patient, reasonable ... and persistent. Can you think well on your feet? Maybe do a dry run, with a family member or friend as the credit card agent. Have you had an offer from a different carrier of a low rate for several months on balance transfers, etc.? I've received three, via mail, internet ad and my own search, recently. You haven't? Don't let that sleeping dog lie - ask around among your friends as to whether they have ... and can fish the proposal out of the garbage for you, for if you ask that carrier, quite likely they'll be willing to make the same offer to you. Even if they don't ... when you're talking to your current company, you can say that your friend received an offer at 1.9% for xx months, etc. Nothing requires you to say that you've spoken to the other company, should you have done so ... and they turned you down. Grandma (died in 1950) used to say that one should tell the truth, but [usually] we aren't required to tell all that we know. If you don't get your desired result this week ... call them again next week - some customer service reps are more accomodating than others! If you can't find a better deal in that channel, how about talking to your usual financial agecy - maybe they'll make you an unsecured loan to enable you to pay off the C C balance owing in full, at a lower rate ... especially if you have a bond, mutual fund or stock certificate(s) to offer as collateral. Or try a credit union ... even if you're not currently a member: many are looking to expand, with financially responsible people as members. "You don't ask - you don't get", is a worthwhile proposal for lifestyle that I've heard on occasion. I have an L o C at the bank that was charging at their prime, 4.25% ... but when their prime went to 3.5% ... they wanted a surcharge of 1.5% (different financial climate), wanted me to pay them 5% ... so I figure to buy some stocks using original credit card, then transfer balance owing to a new card at 1.9% (and buy nothing on the new card, for I can't pay any of that new loan off till all of the balance transfer and interest is paid). Now - the "I told you so" ... many of us financial advisors have been promoting having at least 3 months' income available in case of emergency (6 mos.' to a year's worth, even better). How would you be feeling now, if you had built such a cushion earlier, to be available currently? Good wishes for success in achieving a better result than the current situation. ole joyful