There's one very important matter more that I forgot to include about credit cards. As you may remember, I strongly advised you never to make just minimum payments, as this will get you little or no progress in paying off your balance. However, with some cards, you can even lose ground by making minimum payments, even if you don't charge anything more.
If you feel you just can't make anything more than the minimum, at least check your monthly accrued interest and monthly finance charge (the fee they charge to manage your account), plus any other fees those vultures may tack on, and add them up. If they equal, or are less than the minimum payment, then you're alright. However, if those charges exceed the minimum payment, then your balance will rise, even though you haven't used your card. Many years ago, this happened to me with my Discover card. To my regret, I 'discovered' this was the case. I didn't pay close enough attention to my bill. I made minimum payments for about 3 months, and then I received a monthly statement with an over-the-limit fee. I'm thinking, WTF?!
I called customer service and we went over things, and it turned out the minimum payment was less than the monthly interest and fees. Don't let this happen to you. If you are going to make minimum payments, at least make certain it will cover your monthly interest and fees or you'll be digging your grave even deeper!
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