Sometimes things just come up. You have an unexpected expense, or just flat out forget. Many people think this is no big deal, forgetting to make a credit card payment won't hurt you in the long run, as long as you make your payment the next month right? Well actually, missing a credit card payment can actually ruin your financial health. There are three main things that can happen when you miss a credit card payment. Each card is different and some are more or less strict, but this is just an overview of what could happen.

Bye Bye Promo

So you get a new credit card with a great promotional rate like 2% for the first year on all your purchases. So things are going along well, you rack up some charges and then one month something comes up. You can't afford to pay all of your bills, so you figure you will just skip your credit card this time. Well, in most cases, if you do this, you can say good bye to your promotional rate. This rate is a reward for staying a responsible customer, and if you don't stay responsible you can forget about keeping it.

Default Rate

Even worse, if you don't make a credit card payment, the company will often change your rate back to the default interest rate which is normally quite high. So if you think that you are having trouble affording your minimum balance when your rate is at a promotional rate of 2%, try affording it when it is at a rate of 20%.

Credit Score

Most credit companies will report you to the credit bureau for just one late payment. This can lower your credit score by several points and can cause you to be turned down for credit in the future. It seems like a lot for just one late payment and it is, but it is not worth it to risk it all for one payment. It is best to pay the minimum, even if you have to move money around a little and may not be able to do something extra like go to a movie or out to eat. But in the long run it will be worth it.