Category:
Credit

Student hands with credit card on laptop at night.

What Does Default Mean on a Credit Card?

By Bents Dulcio | May 20, 2025

If you’ve missed multiple payments on your credit card, you will be at risk of defaulting – and that’s a big  (sometimes very messy) deal. Default on a credit card…

Credit card statement bill showing the minimum payment with a hand and pen.

How Are Credit Card Minimum Payments Calculated?

By Pat McManamon | May 6, 2025

The minimum payment on a credit card represents the smallest amount you are expected to pay each month. Each card company determines its own minimum payment and calculates it in…

An Arrested Person Hand Linked To Credit Card.

Can You Go to Jail for Credit Card Debt?

By Bill Fay | April 3, 2025

If you can’t pay your credit card bills, you’re probably losing sleep. But there is at least one thing you don’t have to worry about – you can’t be thrown…

Woman looking at many credit cards in her hand and worried about loan debt pay late.

How Do People Get Trapped in Cycles of Credit Card Debt?

By Pat McManamon | April 3, 2025

People who spend more than they earn – and pay bills with credit cards – are candidates for getting trapped in credit card debt. As the debt grows, the tougher…

Wooden Gavel With Credit Card.

What Happens to Credit Card Debt When You Die with No Estate?

By Michael Knisley | March 18, 2025

The only way your credit card debt will magically disappear after you die is if you pass away with no assets at all. Or if the assets you leave behind…

Bag of money, wooden people and the judge's hammer. The concept of property and divorce.

Who is Responsible for a Credit Card in Divorce?

By Bill Fay | February 21, 2025

Divorce does more than end a marital contract. It also severs most of the couple’s financial entanglements — most being the keyword. Debt is stubborn; as surely as it dogs…

Traffic warning cones atop a stack of credit cards on a laptop, depicting not using cards in consolidation.

Can I Still Use My Credit Card After Debt Consolidation?

By Sarah Brady | December 18, 2024

Debt consolidation won’t close your credit cards, in most cases. But even if you can keep your cards open after consolidating, using them is not recommended, since new credit card…

Percent sign of interest rate credit card with falling gold c

When Are You Charged Interest on a Credit Card?

By Maureen Milliken | October 28, 2024

It is so easy to use credit cards that many people charge without much thought. Then, suddenly, the card is maxed out and even paying minimum monthly payments doesn’t make…

Credit card and flying coins on blue background.

What Is a Balance Transfer Fee?

By Bill Fay | September 6, 2024

Credit card debt has skyrocketed to more than $1.1 trillion. So has looking for ways to avoid paying interest on that mountain of money. For millions of Americans, the search…

Man with credit card and piggy bank symbolizing using savings to pay off credit card.

Should I Empty My Savings To Pay off My Credit Card?

By Michael Knisley | September 6, 2024

Here’s the dilemma. On one hand, you’d love to be free of the albatross of high-interest credit card debt hanging around your neck, especially when there’s money in a savings…