Frugal Fergal

I like to think I'm a very sensible credit card user. I treat my credit card as a charge card. I build up transactions over the month and then pay it all off in one go at the end of the month. I never over extend myself and accordingly, I never stumble upon any of these 12 ways your credit card company is ripping you off.

1. The £5 Repayment Trick

   Most credit card companies set the minimum default payment to the monthly interest plus £5. This makes the repayment charge appear attractively low and a lot of people fall for this. If your debt is so big you can't pay it off in full at the end of the month, come up with a more reasonable repayment schedule that you can afford and ensure it's considerably higher than the minimum repayment.

2. The Negative Payment Order Trick

   This is where the ...

Good news folks, the Competition Commission has finally grown a set and banned "fear-based" PPI selling: from 2010, lenders will be banned from selling Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) within a week of loans or credit cards.

Plus 'single premium' PPI, where its cost is added to the loan, accruing thousands in interest, will be completely banned.

Here's a great video which will help put some of the causes of the current financial market into perspective. It explains how bankers/fund managers take a chunk of debt from one company and turn it into an investment.