Credit Card Interest is Annoying

I pay my (billed) balance in full every month, because I either spend within my limits or save up to cover a big purchase first. Let’s face it, I'm cheap and prefer to not pay interest.

About two months ago, I goofed and underpaid the balance by about $100 by the due date. The minimum payment was more than covered and about 2 days after I had actually had it more than covered. I didn't realize what had happened until the next bill and I got dinged for an extra $10 in interest. Needless to say, I was annoyed about the credit card interest being billed.

Given that I've had credit cards for a good few years now and had managed to not pay credit card interest until this point, I didn't really understand how to fix the problem. Remember, I’m cheap when it comes to interest. The next month, I had paid the billed balance in full and just had some new purchases left by the due date. Sure enough, I was dinged for another $2.50 in interest. Now I'm really annoyed because I thought I closed the loop. Apparently not!

Within the last month or so, I spent a few extra dollars than I really wanted to so now I'm trying to slap my hand when I pick something up. Anyhoo, my plan for this month was to get my balance down to $0 before the statement closing date. With the balance now at $0, I'm putting that card aside for about another week until the statement closes to see if I don't get charged any more interest. If I get dinged for any more interest, I really have no idea what to do except pay it quickly and let the card sit on the sidelines for another month.

Of course, this is driving me a little crazy since it's the card I use the most because it has store-specific reward points. Oh well, for now I'm using my backup card.

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