Paying utility bills with plastic just delays pain

The Detriot News reports:

Consumers shocked by the size of their utility bills this winter might be tempted to simply pull out the plastic and delay their worries until spring. But that tactic could push struggling families deeper into debt, experts warn.

"It's a Band-Aid to use a credit card to pay a utility bill," said Charles Hoff, member education counselor at DFCU Financial in Dearborn. "That's just another way of shifting debt from the utility company to the credit card company."

In today's charge-it society, most utilities and telecommunications providers let customers pay their bills with a credit card. It's convenient, eliminates writing and mailing a check, and might help cardholders rake in extra frequent-flier miles or other rewards.

But interest charges and fees can overshadow those benefits. If cardholders don't pay off their entire balance each month, a few $200 gas bills can balloon into a much bigger problem.

Heh.