Minimum Balance Nightmare

Minimum Balance Nightmare: "Why It Pays To Overpay" Nearly 1/3 of college students put tuition on their credit card. 44% of small business owners identified credit cards as a source of 78% of con- financing that their company had used. sumers currently own a credit 54.4 270.1 48.9 203 million million million million DUCOVER VISA AMERICAN EXPRESS MasterCard |Total Cards in Circulation Costs you $4,745 in interest. Monthly Minimum Payment $90 3 6 10 11 Balance: $3,000 Interest Rate: 14.4% YEARS Saves you more than $1,000 in interest. Pay an Additional $13 With Monthly Minimum. 95 % of surveyed The top 3 non- academic expenses charged by college students are 84% issuers have over-limit FOOD, CLOTHING, and $20.5 billion in 2008 COSMETICS. %3| 70% Penalty fees from credit cards added up to about The average family has 13 different credit cards, including, standard, store specific and gas credit cards. 69% 36 % of respondents said they didn't know the The most common education expenses Sources: 76% charged were TEXT BOOKS, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, and COM- MUTER costs. interest rate on the card National Small Business Association they use most often. survey, Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer 75% On average, an American couple will have about $6,000 worth of debt Finances http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit- cards/minimum-payment- on-credit-card.aspx http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card- 54% that they cary with them each month.