Wow. You really have to hand it to those credit card companies. They really do have some brilliant ideas when it comes to taking your money. Oh, I suppose technically it's my fault. You see, I never pay much attention to that little percentage rate for finance charges, because I pay my bill in its entirety every month and never carry a balance. At least, I thought I never carried a balance. Turns out that even though my due date is 30 days after the end of a billing cycle, my "grace period" is only 25 days long. They make it sound so nice. My "grace period." Those 25 days during which they won't charge you for carrying a balance. So even though I pay my bill "on time" every single month, that apparently isn't really "on time." So when my check arrives the day before it's due, I've actually been carrying a balance for 4 days. What?! Sheer brilliance. Now, if only I could convince the university to pay me 5 days' worth of interest on my stipend check every month. "Oh sure, Emory. Technically I don't get paid until the last Friday of every month. But you see the grace period ended on Monday." Ha!