If you're like me, you get 10 pieces of mail per week from your credit card company. I'm not talking about the companies that want to be your credit card company. (That's 10 pieces of mail per day.)

I'm talking about those skinny, envelopes from your credit card company that you know aren't bills and that you usually just pitch in the recycle bin.

Well, I opened one the other day. I don't know if it was curiosity or boredom that prompted me to do it. Maybe it was both. Now, you get those all the time. They change some fine print and are legally bound to tell you about it. Nobody reads that stuff, partly because they bury the stuff in microscopic type.

This was a normal font, and the top line said: "Important Notice of Changes to Your Credit Card Account."

The first bullet point began "We are increasing the Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) on your account ..." A few sentences later, the number 22.99% was highlighted in bold type.

I've always suspected that credit card companies were inherently evil, like drug pushers, but I never been diligent about checking interest rates and other fine-print items. That's probably because I'm too busy trying to earn money to pay the bills. But, this figure -- on a card I've had for a long time -- made me do a spit-take.

It's time to become one of those people who call, cajole and threaten credit card companies to get a better rate. It's probably time to dump the card for a new one (though I like the perk of getting airline miles for purchases.)

Does anybody out there have some suggestions on how I should proceed with this. I'm a complete novice and need some help.

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