I have one credit card with a high credit limit that I've had for years. (The limit started out low and has been steadily raised over the 15 or so years I've had the card.) Every so often, usually when I start making big payments toward the card, I'll get a low-interest balance transfer offer. I just paid the entire card off yesterday, and today I got an offer of a balance transfer for 2.99% until June 2019.
I decided to take advantage of the offer. My other cards that carry a balance range in interest rate from 10.99% to 13.99%. (I have a few with much higher rates, but I paid them off and no longer carry a balance.) My credit limit isn't quite high enough to knock out the entire balance on my other cards, but I can get most of it. I'll still have a modest balance left on one of the 10.99% cards. However, this refinancing will save me thousands of dollars on interest over the next year and a half.
I don't plan to carry a balance that long; my goal is still to have them all paid off by summer, but this gives me some breathing room in the interim and will allow more of my payments to go toward principal instead of interest.
My credit card payoff was originally planned for March, but I did some more calculations when I did my budget, and I realized I didn't set aside enough money for taxes. Being self-employed is expensive, and I'll have to write the IRS a huge check in April, so the credit cards will take a bit longer than planned. It's still nice to see the end in sight, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment