If you have a credit card, you may have noticed that the required minimum payment increases or decreases as the balance that you owe increases or decreases. This is called revolving debt. If you are using your card, running up a balance, and paying only the minimums each month, you probably curse this state of affairs. If you are attempting to pay off a credit card and not accruing more charges, you might think this is a bonus. As long as you work hard to pay down the card, slowly but surely your minimum payments will go down, leaving you more money at the end of the month. Lowering your monthly bills is always a good thing, right? Wrong.

The trade off for your temporary lighter load of bills costs you a lot more money in the long run. Credit card companies love to make money off of your interest payments as you pay them back for the money they so willing loaned to you. This is why they change the minimum payments as your balance goes down. They know that this is a surefire strategy to keep you in debt longer, and paying much more in interest charges. What is your solution to outsmart those crafty credit cards? If you can make your minimum monthly payment each month, why change it? Keep chugging away at the same rate, even when your minimum due is a little less. You will save yourself all kinds of money on interest payments, not to mention dig yourself out of debt much faster.