TAKING CHANCES 3: Betting on a sure thing

Whenever you use your credit card for a purchase or any expense payable through a credit card, the issuing bank or credit card company is betting that you will not pay your whole balance within the free 30-day grace period and they will earn revenues from your account. By paying the whole balance before the 30-day interest free period, YOU WIN THE BET.

The greatest income of issuing banks and credit card companies come from the interests and penalties they charge for outstanding amounts at the end of the 30-day period.

So, bet on a sure thing. Pay your whole credit card balance every time. You will be saving thousands of dollars. Thousands of pennies saved are thousands of pennies earned.

In addition, keeping an unpaid balance puts you at risk for penalties and the compounding of interest. You are endangering your credit standing and earning a higher credit risk rating.

image from Microsoft Clipart