You may not realize it, but carrying a lot of credit card debt can absolutely ruin your monthly bottom line. If you only pay the minimum monthly amount due for each credit card balance that you have, it could literally take decades to pay off the full balance of each credit card. Yikes!
The best course of action is to look at the finance or interest rate that each credit card charges. Work on paying off the cards with the highest interest rates first.
The more you can pay each month on these cards, the more you will save on the amount of interest you pay to the credit card company.
For instance, if you have a balance of approximately $1,300.00 and you make a minimum monthly payment of $32.00, it will take about eight years to pay off the whole balance at an interest rate of 12.9%.
However, if you made a monthly payment of $44.00 a month the balance could be paid off in three years.
By paying just $12 more per month than the minimum payment you can save $494.00 in interest and get rid of the credit card debt in three years instead of eight! The money saved could be put into a savings account or investment account rather into the credit card company’s bank account.
The really good news is that many credit card companies supply a breakdown of how long and how much it will take to pay off your balance, so check your monthly statements to get an idea of how much you need to pay per month to get rid of your credit card debt.
When your balance gets to $0.00 you will be so happy, but for heaven’s sake don’t go out and celebrate being debt free by using your credit card!