Mrs Mean has used credit cards for more than 40 years but over the last 20 years she has made sure she has not paid a penny in interest or other charges.  As families increase the use of cards to buy groceries she warns that we must  all know the cost of using credit cards and other types of credit and the damage to their budgets and their credit profiles that can be caused by missed or late payments. Minimum payments and interest-free deals can be the biggest dangers for the unwary, but probably the biggest danger is representative rates of interest.  The advertisements tell us that we can borrow at interest rates of three or four per cent but only half of successful applicants have to be given the loan at that rate. This is because the companies only have to say they are offering loans at a “representative” rate. It means that only half are given the advertised rate the others are charged more and it is usually too late to get a better deal elsewhere.If you've got a money saving idea you'd like Mrs Mean to get her teeth into, please send a message Please send ideas questions, tips and warnings about rip-offs to Mrs Mean through the contact page on her website: mrsmeanmoneyshow.co.uk or to [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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