If you have a stack of credit card bills that come in at various times of the month, all with different due dates and mounting balances, isn’t it time to take control? Getting a balance transfer credit card may be just what you need to get your credit card debt under control. When you consolidate all of your balances into one, you will only receive one bill which means only payment and one due date to remember each month. Here is what you need to do.
Gather All Your Bills
As your credit card bills arrive in the mail this month, gather them all together. Total your balances and take a look at what you are currently paying in interest. Now it is time to start looking for a balance transfer deal.
While balance transfer credit cards with startup promotional rates had disappeared for a time, they are back and there are some great offers to be found, so start looking. You will want to compare several different offers before applying to ensure you have found a good deal. Some things to consider are what the promotion interest rate is, how long the rate is good for and what is the balance transfer fee?
One of the things you will want to do is to determine how long you think it will take you to pay off your credit card debt. Promotional time frames can be anywhere from 6 months on up to 24 months. Cards that have a shorter promotional time period tend to have lower balance transfer fees. Keep this in mind and choose a time frame wisely. Interest rates tend to be pretty high after the promotional period, so you will want to make sure that you choose a card that offers enough time for you to pay off your balance.
If you have found a few deals and they all seem about the same, look at other terms to help you decide. Like what the interest rate will be after the card’s promotion is up, what type of rewards the card might offer and always pick one that does not have an annual fee.
Pay Down Your Debt
After you have opened your new balance transfer card and transferred you other credit card debts, stay on task and work diligently to pay down your debt. You will want to keep focused so that you can pay off your balance before your promotional time period has ended.
Jeff Weber writes about saving money and reducing credit card debt with balance transfers at SmartBalanceTransfers.com, a website designed to educate consumers about 0% APR balance transfer credit cards.
