Normally, when you're looking to consolidate credit card debt you have the following options: get a debt consolidation loan -or- apply for a home equity loan. But if your credit card debt is still manageable, you may want to consider consolidating your balances to a 0% APR credit card instead. Using a 0% APR credit card will help you spend more money paying off your balances, and less on interest charges!
To use a 0% APR credit card to pay off your debts, follow these steps:
So you're considering a debt consolidation loan instead of a 0% APR credit card. Let's see how much you could save and how much quicker you could pay off your debt using the method shown above. Here's an example:
Assume you have an existing credit card debt of $15,000. You would like to pay $250 per month until the debt is paid off. Your debt consolidation loan was approved at 7% (much lower than your original 12% credit card!).
Beginning Balance $15,000
Total Principal Year 1 $2,014
Total Principal Year 2 $2,160
Total Principal Year 3 $2,316
Total Principal Year 4 $2,483
Total Principal Year 5 $2,662
Total Principal Year 6 $2,855
Total Interest Paid $3,516
Total Amount Paid: $18,516
TOTAL # Payments Made: 70
Now let’s compare paying off this same debt using 0% APR cards
Beginning Balance $15,000
Total Principal Year 1 $3,600
Total Principal Year 2 $3,600
Total Principal Year 3 $3,600
Total Principal Year 4 $3,600
Total Principal Year 5 $ 600
Total Interest Paid $ 0
Total Amount Paid: $15,000
TOTAL # Payments Made: 50
You save $3516 over a six year period! Plus you'll be done with your payments 15 months sooner! Imagine being debt free over a year before you planned!
Although using 0% credit cards to pay down your debt is a great option, try not to switch credit cards too frequently. Doing so can negatively impact your credit report. Shop around for 0% APR credit cards that have the longest introductory periods and the lowest APRs (after the intro period) to buy you a little breathing room. Also, don't fall into the trap of spending again on your old credit cards. Either close them or deactivate them so that you don't get yourself into further debt. And don't overspend with your new card either (even if it is 0%)! Finally, make sure you apply the money you saved on interest to your new payments to help eliminate your debt faster.
Are you trapped into making only minimum payments on your credit cards? I hope not.
Minimum payments decline as the balance on the credit card declines.
Let's take a credit card with a $2000 balance at 15% interest to use as an example. You would expect to pay about a $40 (2%) monthly payment when you start making your payments:
By making the minimum payment only, it will take you 13 years and 11 months to pay off your credit card and you would expect to pay $2,126 in interest.
However, if you continued paying that $40 until the credit
card was paid off, it would only take you 6
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If you have high debt, and are in trouble, you have probably heard the term “credit counseling,” but do you understand what it is? Oftentimes this term is used in the same sentence as debt negotiation or debt settlement, but actually, it’s a completely different process. With credit counseling, you will actually work with a professional credit counselor to pay off your debt in lower, monthly payments that you can afford.
The people most likely to need credit counseling are those who
are receiving troubling phone calls from bill collectors, or
whose accounts have gone to collection agencies. If you think
that you may benefit from using a
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Consumer debt in the UK is a major problem, both at a social and individual level. There is not that much we can do about the social problem, but individuals can take action to prevent and overcome their own debt problems. While UK citizens may be unfortunate to live in a society where debt is commonplace, they are also fortunate in the way consumer credit and debt counselling services have evolved to meet the problem head on.
Those individuals who start to find their personal debts overwhelming and causing great worry may decide they should seek help through credit counselling. Often,
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Would you be interested in freeing up 10% to 15% of your current income? Just imagine what you could do with this money. You could pay down your debts, increase your savings, or work toward that next important purchase that you have in mind. Wouldn’t it be exciting to actually have money left over at the end of the month?
I know what you are thinking: “That would be nice, but not if I have to budget every dollar”. What if I told you it could be done without budgeting? What if you could accomplish this in a week’s time
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If you once have been caught in the debt trap, how do you come out of it and be debt free? We are different and each of us has our own lifestyle and our own financial state, so the way to debt elimination is different from person to person. One plan will be good for some, but not for others. You have to be certain that the plan you choose, whether it is debt consolidation or another plan, will be the best for you with regard to saving both time and money.
A debt counselor has debt
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