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Everyone wants to pay off credit cards fast so they can get out from under the burden of all of those interest charges. Paying off your debt as quickly as possible requires first and foremost a commitment to getting it done. Once you’re motivated to do it is only a matter of months. How many months depends on how high your debt has gotten and the income you can spare toward paying on it.
There are several things you can do to try to pay off credit cards fast and make that magic debt-free day come along sooner rather than later.
Cut Out Discretionary Spending
The less money you spend on dinners out, DVD rentals and handbags, the more money you will have to put on your credit card when the bill comes due. Realize that all the cash you earn goes into the same pot. It’s completely up to you how to dish out the servings. The next time you find yourself about to buy something you don’t need, instead add that exact figure to your credit card payment fund.
Stop Using Your Credit Card
It is difficult to decrease the balance on a credit card when you continue to make more purchases on it. Not only does this defeat the purpose of paying it off, but when you carry a balance you may wind up paying interest on the things you buy starting from day one. Consequently, your balance goes up and your interest charges go up as well. Use a debit card, check or cash if at all possible. If you must use a card for an essential bill, use only the one with the lowest interest rate.
Get Ready to Snowball
Once you’ve gotten a handle on the spending and credit card usage, it’s time to start snowballing. Just follow these steps and stick with it:
- Collect all of your credit card statements and rank them in order by interest rate. If you’re not sure what the interest rate is, check the fine print on the back of the statement.
- Take all the money you saved by cutting your spending and put that amount – plus your regular payment – on the card with the highest rate while paying just the minimum on the other cards.
- Once you pay the first card off, go on to the second one on the list. This time make each payment the minimum plus the amount you were paying on the first card.
- When you get to the third card, pay the amount you were paying on the second card plus the minimum.
How Snowballing Helps You Pay off Credit Cards Fast
Note how the amount you pay on your highest interest card will steadily get larger as you get more cards paid off. Your interest payments will decrease at the same time, both because your balance will be smaller and because you’ll no longer be paying on those higher-rate cards. To see for yourself just how well this method works, check out the snowball calculator.
To pay off your credit cards even quicker, throw any extra funds you come across on your credit card bills too as soon as you get the money. It’s perfectly fine to make more than one payment in the same calendar month. You don’t have to wait for your next billing statement. It may be a good idea to cut up any cards you just can’t seem to keep in the wallet.
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