The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.
Many people experience trouble with getting the right credit cards. Often they may just have applied at a very early phase when they could easily get it and now might find the card too expensive. Especially with job instability and other issues, numerous people are finding it difficult to be able to pay their bills especially if there are additional fees and a high interest rate. Credit cards need not be overly expensive or difficult to deal with. If you plan things out or work out a way to sort out your credit card bills you will be able to work your way through it with ease. When you find that a card is too expensive then you should stop using it until you close the account and the outstanding amount. You can alternatively also opt for a balance transfer that will help you to deal with a large balance and interest rates much better.
Many people have heard of or received marketing emails about balance transfers. The process is fairly simple but you need to keep a few guidelines in mind. The balance transfer in most cases can be expensive especially if you have an inordinately large balance to transfer. If you cannot afford a card where the transferred balance is just 30% of the credit limit it will affect your credit scores. Thus it is not that a balance transfer will never affect credit scores. You have to use your discretion in choosing the card. When doing a balance transfer another fact people fail to look at is for how long the low interest or zero interest period is there. Most people quickly transfer without looking at terms and conditions. In most cases the time will be limited from less than 6 month to a year at the most. Make sure you choose on that will let you pay off the amount you owe with enough time at hand on the new card.
Another mistake during balance transfers is that people forget all about the old card. Once you submit the application for a balance transfer, the processing period will be for a couple of days. It is important that you do not neglect to make the payment on your old card until the process is complete. After that you can choose to close the old card, or leave it open as you wish. If it is a really old card, it would be wiser to leave it open for helping with your credit scores.
Credit card balance transfers are also about an additional factor, low interest rates are mostly applicable only to the transferred balance. A lot of people will not realize this and consider it as a new low interest card and go on a spending spree. However a new interest rate would be applicable to new purchases which will only add to your debt situation. Make sure you are well versed with all the terms and conditions on your credit card. It will definitely make things easier.
