April Plastic Pinch Update
Part of putting this blog together is to track the progress I am making on my credit card debt. These are the 4 active accounts I make regular payments on, even though I carry other various debts. I bought my wife earrings back in February and have to make 3 payments, and have one more to go. The offer was 0% interest and I’m not grouping that in my monthly updates because paying off a relatively small amount in a short period of time is not a long term goal. At any rate here is the chart:
| Credit Cards | Balance | Credit Line | APR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America | $4,352.35 | $5,500.00 | 25.24% |
| Associates | $1,350.00 | $1,700.00 | 18.99% |
| Citi Dividend | $4,779.04 | $5,100.00 | 11.24% |
| Zales | $1,188.46 | $5,000.00 | 9.90% |
| Totals: | $11,669.85 | $17,300.00 | |
| Debt-to-Credit | 67.46% | Change | 1.84% |
I am trying to find a more efficent strategy to pay off more debt faster over less time or at lower interest. One of the latest options I am considering is lumping my 2 higher balance cards into one of those life of the balance low interest cards. I would much rather make a lump payment every month at lower interest than making two payments (double interest) every month and not lower their balances much. My high interest rate card company will not lower my rate, thus I have no choice but to no longer do business with them. Any other advice from readers is greatly appreciated.
Remember to not close the card - that’ll hurt your credit rating.
I have a Bank of America card and my interest rate is 9.9%, they’ve never increased it thankfully! However I have a Citibank that is 32.24% and I’ve contacted them monthly and they won’t lower it. I’ve been carrying a zero balance on it for a couple months now and my threats of never ever charging a dime on it again doesn’t matter to them apparently.