When Robert Baker, director of education for Housing and Credit Counseling Inc., talks to a client, he imparts the wisdom of his mythical grandmother.

“Education is what you get when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t,” she would say.

As credit card companies scramble to adjust their business models before federal laws go into effect that impose tighter regulations on the companies, Baker’s mythical grandmother’s words are ones to live by.

In the past year, companies have raised fees, increased interest rates and lowered credit card limits. Even card holders with good credit have seen their interest rates rise to 29.9 percent.

And consumers are angry, Baker said.

“All of a sudden, their rates spike, their limits go down, their payments go up and now they are calling on the phone (saying) ‘what options do I have, how do I prevent any more of this in the future? I have six other cards and I am afraid they are going to do the same thing,'” Baker said.

Last spring, Congress passed the Credit CARD — Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure — Act. The bulk of those changes were set to go into effect in February 2010, but the U.S. House just passed a bill that would move up the effective date to December. That piece of legislation is now before the Senate.

The recent changes in the credit card industry — both those stemming from companies and the legislation — will hit the wallets of credit cardholders across the board.

Regardless of whether you carry high balances or rarely use your cards, check out these tips on what to expect:

Read everything

Consumers need to be vigilant, Baker said.

“If fees are going to be raised or interest is going to be raised, it is probably going to be in those little disclaimers you get with your bill,” he said.

It’s an idea echoed by William Lewis, who teaches a personal finance class at Kansas University.

He suggests becoming familiar with the terms and conditions that are printed in the box on the back of credit card statements each month. It’s there that cardholders can find their annual fees, overdraft charges and interest rates.

Lewis advocates using credit cards, especially over debit cards. But the trick is making sure you pay off the balance each month.

“The first line of defense is understanding the terms of the card and getting into the mindset that you only buy what you can pay off,” he said.

Watch cards you don’t use

If you hold onto cards that you use only once every 12 or 18 months, watch out to make sure companies aren’t shutting down your account. Banks are deactivating unused accounts more quickly than before, Baker said.

If the card has been closed out by the bank, Baker said it could temporarily affect your credit score. And, for a card that has been deemed inactive, there could be a fee to reopen it.

Know your limit

With the recent rash of credit card defaults, companies are retooling how they score customers’ credit. A stronger emphasis is being placed on how close a person’s balance is to his or her credit limit.

That change could catch even good credit card holders off-guard — people, for example, who have a balance that is 10 percent of their limit.

“If the credit card company decides they are going to hedge their bets even with the good users, and cut their credit limit in half and raise their interest rate, well now all of a sudden the percentage of your balance to your credit limit could be significantly higher,” Baker said. “And when you are scoring your credit, it could affect your score.”

Minimum payments

Minimum payments on credit cards are also starting to creep up, Baker said. For people who pay their cards off monthly, the change isn’t much of a problem.

But Baker said it could mean trouble for people who have several cards with balances.

“If you are carrying a significant balance, that can increase your payments on each card by $100 or several hundred dollars,” Baker said.

If consumers can’t make the payments, Baker said, they might be able to get a hardship repayment offer. But it will require lots of paperwork to prove economic hardship.

No better deals

New laws already give consumers the choice of accepting a higher interest rate or closing out the account and paying off the balance at the existing interest rate for up to five years.

Back in the boom years when companies were sending out 9 billion credit card offers a year, consumers had more leverage when they called and threaten to close out accounts.

Those times have changed, Baker said, with companies more willing to shut down problem accounts. But consumers can still shop around.

“I don’t think it ever hurts to say I am going to close this account and see what happens. There is a 50-50 chance that they will say ‘well, we can change things around.’ But I don’t think it is quite as easy to do that as it was before all this nonsense started a year ago,” he said.

Lewis, the KU instructor, said it wouldn’t be a good idea to close out all of your credit card accounts. He said it probably would be best to have some options, in case one or two companies raise rates significantly or go out of business.