One of the ways to avoid paying interest is to do a
balance transfer. If you have a lot of debt and are paying a lot of interest, balance transfers can save you a lot by way of interest charges. The most important habit to develop is not missing any payments and not going over your limit. Fail on this first step and you will not only incur exorbitant penalty fees, but your finance charge may increase and your mistakes will appear on your credit report.Transfer Balances with CAUTION. The 0% finance charge balance transfer cards offer have fine print rules, but they can work to your advantage.
If you already have a balance on a card and transfer additional amounts to it, your payments are paying down the
0% interest balance first, and then your old balance, which continues to accumulate interest. So do balance transfers onto cards that don't already have balances.Get a free copy of your credit history annually through the government. Follow the listed link. Review for mistakes, or for old debt you may have forgotten about.There are a small number of non-profits that help people with excessive debt. They can be helpful, but be cautious and read the fine print to make sure these are true 'charities'.If your credit history is already ugly, DO NOT apply for more credit cards. Keep one or two cards open for future use, but each credit inquiry on your name can be a detriment to your credit points. Don't apply for credit cards when trying to get bank loans or a mortgage either, even if your credit is decent.
The worst
credit card complaints have come from people who literally did nothing to deserve ludicrous interest rate increases, absurd payment increases, and drastic credit limit decreases. So strap yourself down and take a moment to absorb some of the most horrendous credit card practices in the history of modern finance.
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