Using Low APR Credit Cards to Pay Off Debt

Many consumers may have racked up their credit cards during past months to make ends meet, or carry them over through a time of unemployment, and now the monthly payments are taking a lot of the income they have coming in. As long as you have maintained making timely payments on your accounts and not taken them all to the limit, your credit rating may be such, that other companies are offering low APR credit cards to you in the mail and you are tempted to apply.

There are several things to keep in mind with low APR credit cards. Most of the time, if you read the entire offer, you may find they have a “processing fee” of $79, or an annual fee of $59, plus whatever interest rate enticement they are offering. Many times the 0% or low APR credit card, only offers that for a set term, such as the first six months or year after you open the account, and then the rate may skyrocket up to 30%.

By using a strategy of paying off your existing, highest interest rate credit cards first, you can reduce your monthly debt, so if you take advantage of the low APR credit card, the thing to keep in mind, is that the goal would be to pay it off with the initial low rate offering. If you transfer your highest interest rate card balances to the new low APR credit card, and pay it off during the initial term, you will have succeeded in paying off some of your credit card debt, and reducing your monthly payments.

Many people make the mistake of opening the low APR credit card, in addition to their regular credit card debt, and then use it for unnecessary purchases, and the next thing you know, they have maxed out the new card, and six months later, have even more debt than they started with. This is how many consumers find themselves in bankruptcy. Basically, if you are using the credit cards to buy necessities, you are already in financial trouble, or upside down in your income to expenses. If you are using credit cards to buy unnecessary indulgences, then you need to exercise self-discipline and stop.

Credit card usage can be like a bad gambling habit; you rack up a bunch of debt and have nothing to show for it. By using a credit card and not being able to pay it off in full each month, you are paying not only retail for an item, but maybe twice as much as if you would have bought it for cash, by the time you pay it off.

Sometimes, low APR credit cards get a bad rap, like they are scamming you into opening an account with a low APR, and then sock it to you with high interest rates later. The burden lies on you- reading all the small print, processing fees and annual fees, and paying off any purchases of balance transfers before the initial low rate period is over. If you do that, then a low APR credit card will truly help you lower your monthly expenses and help you pay off debt.

Low Apr Credit Cards are a great way to control your Credit Card interest expense. For more Credit Card Tips, Please visit my Blog at Credit Card Info.

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