Friday, May 1, 2009

Controlling Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt can become overwhelming for some families. Here are some ideas to help you get your credit card debt under control. Feel free to pass this along to others not enrolled in Wyoming Saves.

Never ever pay the minimum. If you can afford to pay more than the monthly minimum on your credit card, do it! With $3,000 on a credit card, a 2% minimum payment and 18% annual interest, it takes over 30 years to repay provided you don’t add any new charges. In the end, you pay a total of $10,013 including interest of $7,013. For this reason, federal regulators have encouraged credit card companies to increase the percentage owed for their minimum payments.

Some experts recommend paying off cards with the smallest debt owed first and ignoring interest rates on the other cards. This costs a tremendous amount in unnecessary interest payments. Debts with higher interest rates grow more quickly. By tackling them first, you will pay off debt faster!

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