You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey everybody, it's Mariel.

I saw this meme one time that said,

how is it that we were born onto a planet that has everything we need to survive?

And I ended up with a credit score.

Fair point, right?

What we're about to get into, credit cards and credit scores, it feels overly complicated,

and it also feels like a game, one that you might rather not play.

But since this is our reality, we kind of have to play the game.

And if you're going to play, you might as well win.

Here's what I mean.

When you open up a credit card,

the issuer is agreeing to lend you money. It's also giving you benefits like cash rewards,

discounts, reimbursements. Credit card issuers do this because on the whole, they're making money,

on fees from merchants, but also on interest and late fees from you. They're not making money on every single customer.

At scale, they're making money, but you can be kind of the aberration that makes money for

yourself.

That's John Kiernan, the managing editor at the Personal Finance website, Wallet Hub.

On this episode of Life Kit, we are going to walk through the fundamentals of the credit

card game.

We'll talk about how credit cards work, specifically how interest accrues. And we'll also

break down a credit card statement. Talk about what's the difference between the minimum

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