Post-Holiday Credit Card Balance Blues Cures
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Need Some Credit Card Balance Cures?
We all made our New Year’s resolutions last year to minimize debt. But there is no doubt that January, coming right after the holidays, has got to be a tough time for most of us. It was so tempting to use our cards for gifts, parties, or travel, and now we get to enjoy our New Year’s credit card statements. For many of us those come complete with higher interest rates too. So how do we plan our attack?
Vote NO to Higher Interest Rates on Credit Cards
If you’ve managed your credit well, paid bills on time, etc., but still been hit with interest rate hikes, it is time to do some shopping around for lower rates. If your credit is decent, you can still find zero interest rate balance transfers.
Does Credit Card Interest Rate Matter on Smaller Balances?
I’m not sure what you consider a small credit card balance. But let’s say you owe $1,000 on your credit card, which is probably a pretty moderate sized debt for an American family. If your interest rate is 23%, you can make a payment of about $100 a month, it will take you 12 months to pay it off. You would have paid about $120 in interest charges too. So your $1,000 balance will really cost you over $1,100. It is pretty likely, in fact, that you will still be looking at your 2009 debt as the 2010 holiday season approaches. We don’t want that.
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But what if you had a 0% balance transfer offer that was good for 6 months? Then let’s say that rate got adjusted up to only 11% after the six months ended. Within 6 months, that same $100 payment would have eroded your debt down to only $400. Within 5 more months (4 if you can stick another $10 in your month 4 payment), you will have paid off the balance and only paid about $10 in interest! Your credit card can be clean by fall, and you may even have some time to divert that $100 into a savings account for a few months before the holidays hit.
In addition, having lower balance limits should also improve your credit scores. This means you have the opportunity to pay less for all sorts of loans.
We’d like to thank our friends at Credit Land for a list of 0% balance transfers!
Follow the Link Below for Current 0% Balance Transfer Offers
0% on Balance Transfers
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