Sunday, March 12, 2006

How to avoid hidden fees?

There are a lot of different ways to avoid getting hit with hidden fees. $750 is what the average average pays in hidden fees each year, most of them are for credit cards but other businesses have them as well.

Late Fees
This is the biggest one. The important thing is to get your minimum payment in as soon as possible. Do it online to get it there faster or make sure you are sending in the payment with the bar code payment stub. Or consider setting up an automatic payment from your checking account. Also if you are late on one bill, you may see your credit card interest rates go up.

High-speed Internet connection
Federal regulations require the big telecommunications suppliers to contribute funds to the Federal Universal Service Fund to defray costs of increasing Internet access at libraries and other public places and of advancing online availability to low-income and rural Internet users.

I just checked my comcast bill and didn't see it.

Cell Phone Hidden Fees
These fees are hard to avoid once you see them because you are most likely in a contact they include fees for user portability and 911 cell phone locator services. Watch out for text messaging as well. It can 5 to 10 cents to text message each time. That can add up big bucks if you are constantly text messaging friends or sign-up for automatic text message announcements to your cell phone.

Personally I have never used text messaging and don't see what all the fuss is about. Call them on their cell phone if you need them.


Be an informed consumer can help you be aware.

Enjoy your savings!

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