I don't know whether to be pleased or ashamed by my Macy's bill. I have a $383 (current) balance with them. As I went to pay the bill this morning, I noticed it gives the balance, minimum payment due ($13), payment due date. Below this it has a "minimum payment warning."
"If you make no additional charges using this card and each month you pay only the minimum payment, you will pay off the balance shown on this statement in about 10 years." (my emphasis) "And you will end up paying an estimated total of $823."
"If you make no additional charges and each month you pay $15, you will pay off the balance shown on this statement in about 3 years and you will end up paying an estimated total of $541. (Savings = $282)."
Okay, so first of all: if you don't get why paying the minimum is a bad idea, then let this guide you.
On the flip side, somewhere the math is wrong... I don't think the minimum payment goes below $10. Just doing the straight math, paying $13 twelve times a year for 10 years is $1560. Even accounting for a lower minimum payment as the balance goes down, it's higher than $823. The second calculation seems correct: $15 X 12 X 3 = $540.
Regardless, friends, let this be a beautiful moment of a retailer that is explaining the danger that is using your credit card to buy things you can't afford.
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