Читать книгу Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s For Dummies - Eric Tyson - Страница 57

If you do have credit-card debt, you can slow its growth until you get it paid off by reducing the interest rate you’re paying. Here are some strategies for doing that:

 Stop making new charges on cards that have outstanding balances while you’re paying down your credit-card balance(s). Many people don’t realize that interest starts to accumulate immediately when they carry a balance. You have no grace period, the 20 or so days you normally have to pay your balance in full without incurring interest charges, if you carry a credit-card balance from month to month.

 Apply for a lower-rate credit card. To qualify, you need a top-notch credit report and score (see Chapter 4), and not too much debt outstanding relative to your income. After you’re approved for a new, lower-interest-rate card, simply transfer your outstanding balance from your higher-rate card.

As you shop for a low-interest-rate credit card, be sure to check out all the terms and conditions of each card. Start by reviewing the uniform rates and terms of disclosure, which detail the myriad fees and conditions (especially how much your interest rate could increase for missed or late payments). Also understand how the future interest rate is determined on cards that charge variable interest rates. See my website, www.erictyson.com/, for an up-to-date list of good, low-rate cards.