Pfew!

Sometimes I'm not that organized, add to that my uncle dying and I flat out screwed up. Over the last three months I had racked up 3 different late fees on the 2 of the four credit cards that I have.

Don't do what I did and let your payments slip away from you. I remember checking on the accounts, but somehow screwing up.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, remember that your credit card accounts are very negotiable. The credit card companies spend $300 to $500 just to get your business, so don't give up too easily. I wracked up $117 in late fees over the last two months. That's two to a citibank account and one to an american express account. In the American express case, I went through a rep. who couldn't help me, because I had already incurred a late fee six or seven months ago. The supervisor was happy to help me though.

In the second case, with citicard, I almost went straight to an account exec., and they were happy to waive two late fees to keep me. In the end, they'd much rather keep you than get new business, and if you're like me, you'd much rather stay than find a new card, so try to work something out and remember that you have plenty of power in the transaction.

I saved $117 in less that 20 minutes. Look, it wasn't a great spot to put myself in. And I did thank both these companies for their willingness to work with customers, but paying off late fees is not something you should consider standard fare. If you are a good customer, defend your status and work from there.