Sandra Blakemore enjoys the peaceful life at her rural home.
It's a far cry from where she was five years ago, when she was going to school full time and working part time.
"I thought that I could rely on my credit cards to kind of get me through some humps," says Sandra.
But after a while the humps turned into a mountain.
"Making the minimum payment put me so far behind that it was really difficult to catch up," says Sandra.
Sandra eventually turned to Margo Mitchell at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Oklahoma to help her dig out of debt. It's a situation Mitchell is all too familiar with.
"We've really noticed in the past ten years as i'm sure you have that credit card companies have really started adding all kinds of additional fees and have started making it more and more difficult for the consumer," says Mitchell.
But now help could be on the way. In May of this year President Obama signed into law a long list of new credit card rules. Most of the rules will take effect in February. Others are already in place.
For instance, if a credit card company wants to change your interest rate it must now give you 45 days notice. And the company now has to send you your bill 21 days before it's due, as opposed to just 14.
"You practically had to mail the check that night and mail it to ensure that it made it on time," says Mitchell.
As for the new rules taking effect in February, the due date on your credit card bill must stay the same every month.
If a credit card company raises your interest rate, it can only be applied to new purchases. The interest rate on your old balance will stay the same.
Also, unlike in the past, when a credit card company would often let you go over your credit limit without you even knowing it, only to hit you with a big fine, you will now get to choose whether to go over the limit.
"So I have a decision to make," says Mitchell. "Do I really want to make that purchase? Or wait a minute I didn't realize I was that close to my credit limit. I don't really need that pair of shoes."
One of the biggest changes in February will affect college students. Students who can't prove they have an income or can't get the signature of a co-signer will not be approved for credit cards.
"It should very much help students and also their parents," says Mitchell.
Also when you pay more than the minimum payment, the credit card company must apply that extra money to your debt with the highest interest rate.
For example, the debt you've piled up using credit card checks usually has a higher interest rate than the debt created by using the card.
"That will really save the consumer some money," says Mitchell.
Consumers like Sandra Blakemore. She believes these new rules could have helped her find the peaceful life, a little sooner.
"Definitely, it's gonna help," says Sandra. "It's gonna help people."
