Credit Card Rate Hikes

We have a credit card that has a balance on it, but we are not using it, just paying it down. The interest rate has been 14.99%, not bad, though our lowest has a 5.9% rate. Last week, we received a notice that the credit card company was going to raise the rate to 29.99%! We could opt out if we wanted to, which meant agreeing to being unable to use the card again, and keeping the same interest rate as we pay down the balance. The other choice was to keep the card and pay the usurious new rate, which I couldn't stomach. We chose to opt out, which means we lost the $30,000 limit, most of which is unused, which may dampen our credit score, especially since it was a major card. I think that the reforms are hurting consumers as much as they are helping.

The good news is my change jar is getting quite full.