Paying off a credit card can be a real pain. It seems to take forever!
You make the payments every month like clockwork, yet somehow the balance doesn’t seem to decrease – or if it does, it’s only pennies at a time.
Maybe the interest rate on your card is way too high, and it feels like you’ll be paying off the card for years to come.
Here are five tips to help you pay the card off faster:
- 1. Call your credit card company and ask them for a lower interest rate. Depending upon your credit rating, you may be able to get a low rate – even for a short time.
- 2. Look for a low interest balance transfer on a different card. Lots of companies want your business – so shop around and see who will give you the best rate. Be careful though, often if you are late with a payment – even one day – the interest rate will shoot up for the entire balance and you’ll be stuck with another high payment.
- 3. Put as much money as you can into one credit card at a time, investing as much extra cash into getting your card paid off. Money advisors have differences of opinion – pay the large one off first – pay the small one off first. I prefer the approach to pay the smallest credit card off first – get rid of it as fast as you can, and then work on the next credit card balance – concentrating on one card at a time, (but continue to make minimum payments on all your cards).
- 4.Consolidate your bills. I wouldn’t use one of those companies that specialize in consolidation – maybe you’ve had good luck, but I’ve only heard horror stories. I’d rather find a way to put all my payments together using a home equity loan or bank loan. Again – be careful not to get in over your head and don’t consolidate on one credit card – it is too easy to get into trouble with variable interest rates.
- 5.Find extra cash – sell something, get a second job, put all your birthday checks into payments for the credit card. As the minimum payment gets lower, continue to pay extra toward the card. You’ll be surprised how fast it’ll go down.
Don’t get discouraged, most of the USA is or has been in credit card debt and we’re all learning together. Just keep plugging away, and keep your long term goal in focus.
You’ll be debt free in no time!
Drawbacks of debt consolidation
Using your home equity loan to pay off debt