If You Have to Miss a Credit Card Payment

Ideally, and in the perfect world, you would never have to miss a credit card payment.  Knowing that’s not the case for most families though, if you absolutely have to miss a credit card payment, is there anything you can do to minimize the financial effects missing a payment will cause?
First- make sure you really have to miss it!  Sometimes money is tight but you could steal sneak out the minimum payment for your credit card.  Sending the minimum on time is better than nothing at all and will keep you from getting a late fee or interest rate hike.
If sending the minimum is just not possible, then call your credit card company immediately to ask if there is something they can do to help you. If you feel it’s only going to be a problem for one month, they may be able to waive the late fee and let you make a larger payment the following month.  If on the other hand, you feel your money situation is going to be tight for awhile, they may work with you to make your payment more manageable- perhaps by lowering your interest rate so your payments are lower and more of your money is going to pay off the principal balance.
Whatever you do, don’t just skip the payment.  You will see a late fee and probably an interest rate increase the following month.  What’s more- often an interest rate increase will occur on ALL OF YOUR credit cards, not just the one you were late on.