Guidance to paying off my credit card

bodean · #1 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 09:56 AM

Right now I have about $7400 on a credit card (Bank of America).
I am looking at transferring it to a 0% APR card to help me pay if off more efficiently. I am finding that there are not many cards out there that a) let you transfer the balance for free AND b) have 0% apr on the transfered balance for 12-15 months. Is this common?

Or am I better going with a card like AMEX Blue or Clear, and transferring the balance, and only having a 3.99% APR?

poundwise · #2 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 10:21 AM

The answer depends on how long it will take to pay it off v. the fee for the balance transfer. I you are talking about a year, for instance, you'd be better off (in most cases) paying a transfer fee and having 0% for 12 months.

One caveat: When surfing a balance to a low or no interest card, don't use that card for any other purpose.

jmjj215 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 11:57 AM

Also, to add to poundwise's advice, a late payment on any other card will trigger that balance to skyrocket (though that's a risk right now as well, so this is a bit of a moot point).

project15 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 07:48 PM

I'm sure you've seen it, but this thread may be helpful for finding low APR CC's

Get ~ $450 when you invest $10K from cc to 5% savings: a sorted list of 100 cards

click4credit · #5 (**permalink**) 05-23-2007, 01:16 AM

If it's going to take you a while to pay the cards off then a 0% with small fee may be best. You should try to create a budget and stick to it to make sure you pay the debt off within the interest free period. It sounds obvious but many people end up transferring from one offer to another while their debt goes up not down.

PharmacistRealtor · #6 (**permalink**) 06-01-2007, 01:31 PM

It doesn't matter how much you owe you must first learn to spend less than you earn...

Tree0164 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-02-2007, 06:39 AM

You may not get 0% offers because of your credit score. And really the most I have seen are for about 9 months.

Until you get an offer of 0% transfer it to the amex blue for 3.99% and then be super aggressive in paying it off. And then surf the balance. We did this to pay off over 20k of cc debt.

And I am sure you won't be using the credit card again

veronak · #8 (**permalink**) 06-02-2007, 10:26 PM

Have you tried contacting BoA about getting your interest lowered? Let them know that AmEx offers a better rate if you transfer the balance they may lower your interest