
According to a recent NerdWallet survey, 47% of Americans using credit cards don't pay off the bill in full each month. A load has also been much more expensive over the past five years, with the average credit card interest rate increasing 35% since 2014, from 12.74% to 17.14%.
Credit card interest rates are still close to post-recession highs despite the Federal Reserve's recent rate reduction. The only way to completely avoid interest is to pay off your balance, but not everyone is in a position to do so with credit card debt.
77% of Americans who had credit cards reported having paid interest at some point in the poll. The next best thing is lowering your interest costs so you have more money to pay off your debt faster. Here are three simple steps you may take to lower your interest payments and pay off your debt sooner.
How to Get Out of Credit Card Debt
1. Add any more funds from your budget to your payment
Following the Fed's move, credit card interest rates are probably going to decrease. 44 percent of American cardholders who have ever paid interest on a credit card say they would use whatever money they saved on interest to lower their actual credit card debt.
Nearly half of all cardholders in the country (46 percent) say the same. This is a smart use of that cash since even modest increases in your credit card debt payment can result in big savings.
Let's say you have a $5,000 credit card balance with a minimum payment of $100 and an APR of 18%. If you only made the minimum payment, the interest would cost you $4,311. But what if you reduced your monthly spending by $25 and switched to making a $125 payment instead?
You would avoid paying interest for over three years and save $1,618. You would save $2,328 in interest costs and pay off your debt four years sooner if you could find an extra $50 per month in your budget.
2. Make two payments of half your original amount
The amount you owe on your credit card on the due date or at the conclusion of a billing cycle is not taken into account for calculating interest. Instead, your interest is calculated based on your average daily balance if you carry a balance from one month to the next and pay off the credit card debt faster. As a result, making smaller payments more frequently can help you pay less in interest.
Suppose you have a $4,000 credit card balance and the ability to pay $500 per month. Your average daily amount would be $3,900 if you made the $500 payment on day 25 of a 30-day billing cycle.
The average daily balance would be $3,775 if you made two $250 payments, one on the 10th day and the other on the 25th day of the billing cycle. So, instead of making a single payment, you would be paying interest on $125 less. You'll save more money if you do this for longer.
3. Transfer your balance to a card with 0% interest
You might be eligible to transfer your balance to a credit card with a 0% introductory rate for 12 to 18 months if you have strong credit, which is generally defined as having a credit score of 690 or above. You may concentrate on paying off the basic debt as quickly as possible now that you don't have to worry about interest.
Rundown
In general, you cannot transfer debt between credit cards issued by the same company; for instance, you cannot transfer a balance from one Chase card to another Chase card through credit card debt.
A few cards don't charge a fee for balance transfers made within a particular time period, while the majority impose a fee of between 3% and 5% of the transferred amount.
If you go with this method, plan to pay off your entire balance before the introductory period expires to prevent interest charges from accumulating. At Debt Consultations, get the solution to come out of heavy debt issues.