Friday, December 2, 2011

How can I save money on my credit cards?

I have some debt and my intrest rates are ridiculous right now. What steps can I take to save some money, without ruining my credit?|||You can try applying for a low-interest credit card and transfer the balance to your new credit card, then try to pay it off as soon as you can. Don't transfer balances too often though, cuz that will lower your credit score. It's better to pay them off than moving them around.|||First: Stop using your credit cards





Pay your bills on time to eliminate extra fees. If you have more than one credit card put every effort you can into paying off the lowest balance card first. Make out a budget of what you actually NEED to spend money one every month. Stop spending money on things that you WANT and only spend it on what you NEED. Use any extra money to pay down your credit card debt. After the lowest one is paid off put every effort into paying off the next lowest one, and so on until they are all paid off.





Once you get your credit card debt down use the same budget to put some money in a SAVINGS ACCOUNT.|||An easy answer: debt consolidation. Many financial companies are popping up that offer methods to consolidate your credit card debts, and they essentially bargain with your credit card companies to offer you a lower interest rate, and one low payment. If you happen to have a mortgage, they do it that way as well.... they can take any loan you have, lump them together, find a median interest rate, and possibly save you a few hundred bucks a month and pay your debt off quickly to get you back on track. Now, I'm not speaking from experience of having done this, just heard about it and read about it here and there. It's definitely a good way to go. The only other option I can think of that's feasible is to get a personal loan through a bank (if your credit is bad, you may need a co-signer) that would be around 8-9%, pay off your credit cards (which I imagine are significantly more than 8-9%) and then make the monthly payments on that loan.... and after that, I'd recommend starting fresh with one credit card, and a limit that will keep you out of trouble. Hope that helps! Good Luck :)|||Accept one of those credit card offers you get in the mail offering 0% on transfers. That would be the cheapest way to pay them down. That would save you a lot from the interest you are paying now.





If you cannot get approved for that, you can try your bank for a personal loan (not sure if it would be better rates than your card is now but might help you with better payments so you can double up).|||The only way to get out of that hole is to:


1. Stop charging.


2. Make monthly payments that are AT LEAST several times the "minimum payments" required. Otherwise, you'll be paying interest forever.

No comments:

Post a Comment