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Below, you'll find
extensive information on leading credit card consolidation articles and
products to
help you on your way to success.
Credit Card Consolidation - Make
Your Debt Manageable
By Jon Francis
Debt consolidation is a term you'll
hear often in the adverts for loans - especially home loans. The idea
is to take out a loan large enough to pay off your credit cards and
other loans, then pay off the loan at a lower interest rate than you
were paying on the credit cards. It's a logical leap - except for one
thing. It works even better if you use the lowest interest rate loan
available - 0% balance transfer credit cards.
0% balance transfer cards were the product of a competitive marketplace
- the credit card marketplace. After years of growth in the credit card
market, the providers found themselves in the position of having to
entice customers from each other in order to keep on growing their
market share. In order to do that, they came up with several schemes to
make their credit cards more attractive than those of their
competitors. Balance transfer credit cards are specifically designed to
get you to shift your existing balance from one credit card company to
another by offering you a better deal. And while 0% balance transfer
credit cards are a bit more scarce than they were two years ago, they
do still exist - and they've been joined by other low interest balance
transfer credit cards schemes.
The Benefits of Credit Card Consolidation with Balance Transfer Credit
Cards
There are a number of benefits to taking advantage of a balance
transfer scheme to get control of your credit card debt.
1.Low (or no) interest slows down the mounting of your debt. If you've
been carrying half a dozen balances on higher interest credit cards,
chances are your minimum monthly payment doesn't even nibble at your
outstanding balance. That's because credit card interest rates are
designed to KEEP you in debt, not get you out of it. By moving all of
your high interest balances onto one low interest card, you can attack
it more directly and keep it from spiraling completely out of control.
2.One monthly payment makes it easier to make the payment on time.
Instead of remembering half a dozen different payment due dates, you
only have ONE. No more worries about missing or late payments because
one of your credit cards fell off the radar.
3.Having one credit card and one monthly
payment lets you concentrate your efforts
and apply a larger chunk of
money where it counts. Add up all the minimum monthly payments that
you're making now. Then compare balance transfer credit cards by
minimum monthly payments to see how it stacks up to your current
monthly payment. Chances are that the amount of money you're currently
paying out to meet all of your minimum payments will be far above the
minimum monthly payment on a balance transfer credit card - which means
that with every payment you'll be hacking away at the outstanding
balance and making your way toward being debt-free.
How to Compare Balance Transfer Credit Cards
If you do the math and decide that a balance transfer credit card is
the right decision for you, then take the time to compare balance
transfer credit cards and find the best one for you. While 0% balance
transfer cards still exist, the days of no-strings 0% cards are fading
away. Most balance transfer credit cards have certain limitations and
requirements for their use.
You can check out balance transfer credit cards on offer at comparison
sites to compare the various terms and find the balance transfer card
that works best for you.
Once you've transferred all your balances to one card, be careful not
to run your other cards up to limit again. Your best course is to keep
one credit card active for use in emergency - or for your everyday
purchases - and pay off that card in full every single month. That way
you won't find yourself in the situation of paying down double the debt
because you've run it up all over again.
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