We've just come back from town where we did some shopping and had lunch at the bowling club. Bingo was still in full swing. The barman told us that yesterday's bingo even had a spot of excitement when one of the participants stood up, called 'Bingo!', and fell back into her chair with a heart attack.
On the way back home I collected my mail from the post office which included my monthly credit card statement. I have a VISA credit card but use it like a charge card to give me a convenient summary of what I have spent during the month: as soon as I receive it, I pay its closing balance and start again.
As I quickly scanned the items, I detected for the first time this innocent-looking Minimum Repayment Warning at the bottom of the page: "If you make no additional charges using this card and each month you pay only the minimum payment, you will pay off the Closing Balance shown on this statement in about 39 years and 3 months and you will end up paying estimated total interest charges of $12,487.26"
Is this for real? Do some people really just pay the minimum payment? Not having another 39 years and 3 months up my sleeve, perhaps I should consider it! I can already see my epitaph: Here lies Peter Goerman with a smile on his face. He didn't pay off his credit card.
| The Irish have solved their own fuel problems. They imported 50 million tons of sand from the Middle East and they're going to drill for their own oil. |
