Question by NYlisa: problems getting a low interest credit card due to bankruptcy 10 yrs ago?
hi, I had to file a bankruptcy 10 yrs ago(in May) due to my husband (who is an ex now) charging up my card almost $ 40,000 and running off with his new girl friend leaving me with a debt I couldn’t begin to pay since I wasn’t working at the time. What Im asking is why am I still being penalized and denied credit or offered ridiculously high apr rate cards after 10 yrs of excellent credit. I now have 2 cards that I didnt go bankrupt on cause there were very low balances on them and I was able to pay them off but in the 10 yrs I have been making payments not only on time but twice a month and very high payments, for example I made a $ 1500 monthly payment on a $ 10,000 balance and always on time or early so I have had really great credit in the past 10 yrs and the bankruptcy wasn’t my fault and still I can’t get a decent low interest card, they keep denying me due to my past “bankruptcy” and the cards I already have refuse to lower my interest rate. Can they do this, I canceled one of my high interest cards, paid it off in full and now I only have one card left with 16.9% interest which I think is still too high so I keep applying for lower rate cards and get denied. I don’t get it, Im a perfect candidate for credit and they still deny me. Meanwhile my sister had a bankruptcy 12 yrs ago and she was able to get a 3% interest rate card with no annual fee. And she had a $ 120,000 balance when she went bankrupt, I only had $ 37,500. It doesn’t seem fair. Sorry this is so long, I don’t know how to make a story short..lol
my 10k balance is now down to 3k, I am paying it off $ 1500 a month. My total credit card debt on all my cards(2) is 4500 and I should have the whole thing paid off in the next 3 months. No more charging for me after that, Im canceling my cards and just using cash. I’ve had it with credit cards changing the rules and doing what they want.

Best answer:

Answer by rmm
If you only buy what you can pay for, and pay off any new cards at the end of the month, then the interest rate doesn’t matter.

Don’t use credit cards as a loan, use them as “convenience cards” – meaning pay off the card each and every month. Don’t carry a balance and interest rates just don’t matter.

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