Yogi is the uncontested king of double talk. His observations are legendary. Surely most of you have a favorite "Yogism." Here are a few of mine:

      "It aint over till it's over."

      "It gets late early out there."

      "Fifty percent of hitting is ninety percent mental."

Truly confusing stuff sometimes. But even Yogi would be confused by some of the language in you credit card User Agreements. And when you fail to read the fine print in these things, you really put yourself at risk if you should miss a payment or two. While some of the language is hard to understand, it is definitely to your advantage to know what you are getting into when you get a new credit card.

A couple of years ago Congress re-vamped the Bankruptcy laws, making it harder to discharge credit card debt. Though the change was designed to punish people who knowingly abuse credit, it has the effect of putting people who simply had temporary monetary problems into financial ruin, with no real protection in Bankruptcy. Some things to remember before you run up those credit card bills.

INTEREST RATES  If you got a teaser or introductory rate when you applied for your card, be sure to make your monthly payment on or before the due date. Some credit cards will raise your interest if you are late even one day with the payment.

SPECIAL CHECKS  These come to you in just about every monthly bill. The promise reduced interest or no interest for a limited amount of time. The interest rate on these can change to a default rate if you are late with your payments.

LATE CHARGES  The new Bankruptcy Act included an increase in the late charges banks may collect. Up to $30 per event. A late charge may result in your interest rate being raised to the 'Default Rate.' This rate can be as high as 29%!

OVERLIMIT FEES   Also increased to $30. An over limit charge may increase your interest rate to the 'Default Rate.'

COLLECTION COSTS   These costs could have a devastating effect on your financial future. Each month, your balance is incurring interest, late fees and over limit charges. When a collection agency or law firm gets involved, those fees are added to the outstanding amount due as well. Even a small account of Five Hundred Dollars can become Ten Thousand in what appears to be the wink of an eye.

BANKRUPTCY  Basically the Chapter 7 discharge of all debt no longer exists unless you meet certain criteria. That means that you could be making payments to the court for 3-5 years to pay off a portion of your credit card debt.

NEW TERMS AND CONDITIONS  Every once in awhile, there will be a notice of change of conditions included in your bill. Often, this includes a change in interest rate, late fees, over limit fees or other conditions that may considerably have an effect on the cost of using your card. Most people throw them out without ever noticing them. Most times the notice says that if you do not use the card after the date of the notice, the account will not be changed. Some people figure they can do that. Well guess what? They cannot. So the new terms invariably kick in.

Many credit card companies have started a new trend. Somewhere on their 'too good to be true' offers, they include a customer friendly statement that says, "Let us be up front with you, this interest rate is only guaranteed for…," and then goes into the default conditions. I'm sure this was an involuntary action on their part. It may disclose some of the issues, but certainly not all. Remember to read the entire disclosure. If you don't understand it, don't get the card.

Doing anything financially today is becoming more and more complicated. And it is easy for a consumer to overlook important facts that affect their financial stability later. That is why it is important for you to be diligent in reading and understanding what you are signing.

And leave the Yogism to the man who invented them.