Do You Need A Low Interest Credit Card for Debt Consolidation
It may seem like a contradiction to get another credit card if you are trying to solve a debt problem. Surely a new credit card is one more temptation to spend money that you haven't got and get yourself into more financial difficulties. This is true to some extent as credit cards are so convenient to use and are many goods and services actually make it easier to use a card than cash at times. However, a low interest credit card for debt consolidation can help to reduce your debt provided it is used right. This article will give you some pointers on how to do this.
The credit card industry is highly competitive so banks try to make better offers to potential customers and trump their competitors all the time. New incentives are dreamed up to encourage a certain niche to use their credit card. So air miles might appeal to business people that jet all over the place to hold meetings. Whereas credit or money back on clothing purchases may appeal to avid fashionistas.
A low interest credit card with a balance transfer feature is the kind of incentive for a person with debt problems. The ideas behind this is to transfer any outstanding debts on other credit cards to this card. In many cases the transferred debt will have no interest charged on it for a certain time limit.
Once this is done, the sole focus should be to try and clear this debt before the balance transfer introductory period is over. This means you will save on interest payments and the prospect of saving money will motivate you to clear the debt. A beneficial by-product of doing this is that the payment will be once a month, making it easier to manage, rather than having to pay numerous cards throughout the month.
This method will only work if you actively work to pay off the debt and stick to this plan without having a credit splurge. Many people think that putting the transferred balance on a six month interest free period means they don't have to worry about it. This is not the right attitude and in six months the repayments will be causing plenty of concern.
The truth is you don't need a low interest credit card for debt consolidation. You could get a loan instead. This may be a lower interest repayment rate than the credit card. However, if the balance transfer option on the credit card is 0% for six months then you won't find a better deal.
However, it is essential that you can repay the debt within the six month introductory period. Otherwise, you may find that a low interest credit card with balance transfer will not save you money by comparison to a bank loan or an equity withdrawal on your mortgage. the interest rates would not stack up by comparison to these types of loans after six months.
Having said this, another advantage of the low interest credit card is that it is probably easier to get than a bank loan or other form of credit. This is appealing to many people who don't want to jump through rings of fire to get a way to consolidate their debt.
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