Banner
Using Balance Transfers To Manage Credit Card Debt
This is my site Written by tradrmick on January 13, 2012 – 3:12 pm

Credit card balance transfers help lower monthly debt as well as free revolving credit on some credit cards. Credit card balance transfers move debts from one credit card to the other, preferably one with a lower interest rate. There is double value in using credit card balance transfers. The first and most effective way is by reducing the amount of interest accrued each month. The second most effective way is having only one credit card to pay down each month rather than several. When people ask me how to get out of debt I always tell them to take advantage of these low interest offers!

How to do a Credit Card Balance Transfer

Organize- The first thing that people must do before attempting to perform credit card balance transfers is to organize all of their credit card debt. Gather all credit card statements and create a list for them. Determine which credit card has the lowest interest rates. Major credit cards will most generally have the lowest interest rate.

Log- Log the credit card balances on a piece of paper or in a spreadsheet. This information will be necessary when calling the credit card company about credit card balance transfers. The name of the company holding the credit card and the account number for each card is necessary as well.

Call- The final step in credit card balance transfers is to call the credit card company that the balances will be transferred to. The customer service representative will help record all the necessary information. He or she will ask several questions and determine qualifications for the credit card balance transfer.

After all of the pertinent information is given to the customer service representative, the credit card company will handle the final steps to making the credit card balance transfers a reality. The cardholder does not have to contact each of the credit card companies to complete the task.

Within a week or two, the credit cardholder will receive confirmation that the balances were transferred. The first letter will be from the credit card company that the balances were transferred to. The second set of letters will be from the credit card companies the balances were transferred from letting the cardholder know the balance has been paid in full. Nothing further needs to be done except to pay off the credit card that the balances were transferred to.

In order to keep the debt as low as possible, it is important to keep in mind the reason for the credit card balance transfers in the first place. One of the most common errors in credit card balance transfers is that people tend to charge more on the cards that were recently paid off. This leads to huge debt that becomes much more difficult to pay off because the older balance still exists.

Credit card balance transfers allow credit cardholders to more easily pay the bills. Many times these offers have better rates than what you can get on a heloc or home equity loan. They also help people with flailing credit scores to re-adjust it so they can avoid further damage to the credit report. Credit card balance transfers, if handled properly, can be the best way to stay financially healthy. Financial health is one of the most important factors in adult life. When people take care of their finances, their finances will take care of them.

Comments are closed.