Take advantage of balance transfer offers. If you have credit card debt and you have excellent credit, then this is the strategy for you. A lot of cards are giving zero percent introductory APRs for transferring your balance, with the intro periods ranging from six months to 21 months. Some issuers have waived the fee (usually 3 to 5%) that accompanies balance transfers. Your challenge is to pay off your balance, or at least drastically reduce it, before the end of the grace period. Keep in mind – The better your credit, the lower your credit card interest rate will be. Learn where you stand and make sure you get the right credit cards.
When you do transfer a balance to a zero percent introductory interest rate credit card, don’t make any purchases with the new card. Even if your new credit card has fantastic rewards, don’t use it for purchases until you’ve paid off the debt you transferred. It doesn’t matter if the new card has a zero percent intro APR on purchases, don’t be seduced to use it.
Remember, your challenge is to get rid of the credit card debt. Focus all your extra money on the debt, don’t waste it on new purchases – take advantage of this chance to become free of debt – it will feel terrific when you succeed!
Verify you credit report for errors. You can receive three reports free every year at AnnualCreditReport.com. You really need stay on top of your finances in 2012, which means looking at the reports from the main credit agencies: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. You need to verify your reports to ensure there are no errors or fraudulent purchases. If there are errors in the report entries, you might be paying a higher interest rate on credit cards or other debts than you otherwise would be, so take particular care of what’s listed in these reports. Apply for one from each bureau every 12 weeks – that way, you get a glimpse of precisely how you stand. It costs around $19.95 for the service, and it’s the score that the majority of lenders will are guided by.
Monitor your expenditure. Research shows that we always spend more when using credit cards. We don’t relate using the card to feeling the discomfort of cash leaving your wallet. The simplest to stay out of trouble if you’re using credit cards for purchases is to track your spending, and there are some terrific free money management tools online to help you do this. Even when you have problems with cash flow because ofhard times, you can still use a free tool to help ensure you don’t fall further into debt.
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