Get Ready To Buckle Down And Stop Charging Your Credit Card( S)

Category: Finance, Credit.

Credit cards are extremely convenient and useful, but they have a dark side that is often difficult to escape once you re in too deep.

You have the potential to be left in debt for years, ruining your credit and thus, your chances of being able to acquire assets like vehicles or homes. Credit cards can get you into a terrible mess when used irresponsibly, without paying them off or down significantly as you go along. Rest assured that, if you find yourself drowning in credit card debt, you are not alone. Balance transfers are one of the most common ways to take steps toward paying off credit cards. Millions of people are in the same situation, and because of the size of the problem, there are plenty of ways to get out of it. Shifting high- interest debt to a low or 0% balance transfer credit card is a great way to save money on interest when you re ready to be serious about chipping away at that balance.

First, obtain your credit reports so that you know what your history and score are looking like right now. It s easy to do a balance transfer, but just like with using credit cards, there are pitfalls to this method that must be avoided for it to work in your favor. You should have no problem getting approved for a 0% balance transfer interest rate if you have good credit. You can pretty much bet that there will be an average fee of 3% of the amount you wish to transfer, so prepare yourself for that. Some people are lucky enough to even find a card that offers a no fee balance transfer, but these are rare. Most credit card companies impose limits to the amount you can transfer. At this point, you need to decide how much you are willing to transfer to one card.

If your debt is more than$ 10, 000, you probably won t be able to transfer the whole thing- -and it s likely you wouldn t want to because of the additional 3% fee that would be tacked onto that. You may also consider transferring one large debt to two different cards assuming they both have 0% balance transfer rates. Transferring a balance can be a really smart debt relief move, but remember that it takes time and discipline to pay off large credit card balances. If the idea of obtaining two more cards makes you wince in financial anguish, simply transfer as much as that balance as you can stand to a 0% interest card- -this alone could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in interest while you pay off the rest. Get ready to buckle down and stop charging your credit card( s) . If you have a low or 0% balance transfer interest rate, chances are it will not last forever- -12 months at the most. This is the only way you ll get the best possible results from your balance transfer.

The name of the game now is paying off as much as you can in as little time as possible. So many people wait until it s too late to begin taking steps toward correcting their debts. Use foresight when managing your finances from now on. If you can regulate debt early on, you ll have more of an opportunity to be debt free later in life.

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