The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.
Each time credit card bills add up, people get more agitated. What makes it so bad is the fact that whatever you pay, it simply does not add up to enough. The money paid is still way too less and the interests adding on makes things complicated. When your credit card bills get out of hand and you have to cope with very high rates of interest it is time you reconsider your spending habits and also what you have been doing so far to compensate. For one thing, you do not have to deal with such a high interest rate always. There are ways to change how things are.
Firstly you need to say if there has been a hike in your interest rates and what triggered it. If you have not missed any due dates or payments on your card, then you can very well renegotiate the terms and see what the change in interest rate is all about. Some companies may have a clause in the agreement stating that they have the discretion to change the interest rate as and when they see fit. In such cases, you cannot do much about it unless they have written elsewhere that the interest rates will remain fixed. When there is too high an interest rate and high debts, people feel like they are dealing with a mountain that is not budging. You can take matters into your hand before you have to even contemplate dealing with a bad credit situation.
The most common route out is to opt for a balance transfer. You must be receiving numerous marketing emails about balance transfers and you need to spend some time looking at these deals and see what you can get. When you are dealing with a balance transfer, you need to look at what interest rates will be applicable following a transfer and what sort of fees are involved in doing the balance transfer. If you research well you can find options where you need not pay any fees for the transfer and also get a 0 % interest on the new amount for at least 6 months or a year. With a no interest balance transfer you can pay off what you owe and close your outstanding balance in no time. There will be no losses and no heavy payments necessary. Once you have done this, you can get around to paying off what you owe without much of a struggle.
The difficult part of the balance transfer is the fact that you will need to stop making any new purchases. Your aim is to get out of debt not add to it. In most cases, the low interest rate is applicable only to the transferred balance and new transactions would mean a whole new interest rate. If you consider this as additional finances and new lines of credit then you could end up in big trouble. It is better to be safe than sorry, so plan your finances carefully.
