Credit card debt happens fast. One minute you’re adding that must-have item to your cart, and the next minute you’re staring into your banking app, perhaps feeling a hint of regret.
Between bills, rent, groceries and the soothing feeling of pressing that “add to cart” button, it’s hard to get ahead when it comes to debt. We’ll share some simple ways to help get your balance to zero.
The debt snowball and avalanche methods can help you freeze – then melt away – your debt but will require a lot of self-discipline. With the debt snowball method, you’ll sort your credit card balances from largest to smallest. Pay off the smallest debt in full before moving to the next and make minimum payments on all other credit cards besides the current “snowball.”
With debt avalanche, you pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate first instead of looking at the balance. This tends to be faster.
Automating your monthly payments is one easy way to start paying off debt without overthinking it. This can also help you avoid losing money on late fees.
Most credit card companies allow you to automate payments: just be sure to plan for this in your monthly budget so you always know where your money is going (no thank you, overdraft fees!).
We know this sounds unhelpful when you are trying to get less involved with credit cards, but there is an exception: the 0% balance transfer credit card. With a 0% balance transfer credit card, you can transfer your high-rate card balance to the new intro-rate card.
With this strategy, you should not use the old credit card; it will now have a zero balance when a financial emergency happens. By transferring all your balances to one, you’ll have one simple payment each month and you won’t have to pay interest during your new timeframe (usually 12-18 months).
Reach out to your creditors to see if they have any benefits or leniency for longtime customers with good payment histories. You never know if they can help you get a little relief by negotiating your terms or getting into a hardship program.
Just like dodgeball, paying off debt is easier (and less painful) with someone on your team. Debt Free Life is a program that uses life insurance to help pay off debts, and rather than trying to navigate inflation and recessions, this plan uses custom software to tell you exactly how to pay off debt and when you’ll be debt free.
By redirecting inefficient funds (such as contributions to underperforming savings vehicles) into a life insurance policy that will act as a savings “account,” you can build the cash value of the policy to begin paying off the principal balances of your debts.
Interest rates may have hit the highest percentage in years, but that doesn’t mean you should put off your financial goals. With Debt Free Life, you can lock in an interest rate of 3.5-5% (depending on carrier) for the entirety of your policy.
Fill out our short form to connect with a Debt Free Life consultant entirely online, over the phone or in-person to get your plan started. They can help you knock years off your debt payoff schedule.
