What is the optimal way to pay down my credit cards?
Sunday, December 21st, 2008 at
1:08 am
Sundown asked:
I have to credit cards one I $400 and it is interest free for the next 16 months.If I don’t pay it off in 16 months all the interest I would have paid gets added on. I have another credit card that about $660, which I cut up the card for. That card has interest of 25%. I have $130 in bills and I make about $700 a month.
http://creditcardsandchecks.com
I have to credit cards one I $400 and it is interest free for the next 16 months.If I don’t pay it off in 16 months all the interest I would have paid gets added on. I have another credit card that about $660, which I cut up the card for. That card has interest of 25%. I have $130 in bills and I make about $700 a month.
http://creditcardsandchecks.com
Tagged with: Cards Credit • Credit Card • Credit Cards
call your local credit counseling corp, and they might can help yo put it on low monthly payments in one payments and dont take anymore credit cards as for now.
Usually it’s best to pay off the card with the highest interest first, but I don’t know what the interest will be on your interest free card… so it’s hard to say. What’s the amount going to your cards per month? Maybe do a 60%/40% split to the higher card? Best I can do with the info you gave. Good luck!
The rule of thumb with credit cards is to pay off as much as you can each week. If it is possible, don’t carry a balance on your cards. The interest gets so expensive so fast, that soon you will have paid twice as much as you would have for something. As soon as you have paid off these cards, be sure to never spend more than you can pay off immediately.
My suggestion as to your specific situation: On the interest free card, pay off 40 dollars each month until it is payed off. On the card with 25 percent interest, pay it off as quickly as you can to avoid spending any more on interest.
Best of luck,
-Fox
Call up the company with the interest rate of 25% and ask them to lower it. If they won’t, ask to speak to a supervisor. If they won’t do it now, wait a month and ask again.
If you make $700 a month and have $130 in bills, does that mean you can pay down your debts with the remaining $570 a month? Or what does it mean?
Make a plan to pay off your cards. Pay the minimum amount due on the interest-free card now, while you concentrate on paying off the card with the high interest rate. So, let’s say that you pay off just $80 a month on the high-rate card, and they reduce the interest. It would take less than a year to pay it off. In the meantime, if you’re paying a little on the no-interest card as well, you could put then put the $80 towards the low-interest card and get that paid off in time. If you can pay more, you’ll pay them off faster.
To pay $80 a month, you need to figure out a way to spend just $3 less a day than you’re doing now. What can you cut? Maybe you can just use the internet at the library instead of getting it at home?
See for more help.
payoff the one with the highest interest first. save enough so that in the 15th month, you can pay off the one due in the 16th month.
You have $700-$130 =$570 in disposable income
where do you stay? with family?? if you save $570 in the first month, you should have enough to pay off your first loan.
I know the smart thing would be to pay off the higher interest credit cards, but if everyone did smart things, we wouldn’t have credit card debts.
The best way is to change your lifestyle and decide to stop using credit cards all together. If you don’t do this, you’ll be stuck with them for the rest of your life. Then, I’d save up about $200, just in case of emergencies, because you’re going to throw the rest at these cards.
You talk about 16 months interest free, but really, if you have have $570 left over at the end of the month, you can have these paid off in less than 2 months. That would be the optimal way of paying it off. Maybe even stretch it to 3 months, so you can buy your own food and gas.
I’d be debt free in 3 months if I were you.