✦Debt · 13 recordsPay off credit card debt

Credit card debt grows fastest when it is spread across cards nobody has looked at together. This lists every balance, rate and minimum, stops new spending on the cards, chooses between paying the highest rate or the smallest balance first, and checks whether a lower-rate transfer would genuinely help before clearing the cards one at a time.

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Free on any plan. You will see this list again in the app, and nothing is created until you press install.

✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

Every credit card at zero Month 12

One card at a time, with no new spending on any of them.

See the whole picture Week 2

Every card, rate and minimum in one list.

  • List every card with its balance, rate and minimum paymentDo firstDay 3
  • Remove saved card details from shopping sites and appsDo firstDay 4
  • Choose avalanche or snowball, and which card goes firstDo firstDay 7
  • Work out what I can pay above the minimums every monthDo firstDay 12

Pay it down Month 12

Automatic minimums, and everything extra on one card.

  • Set every minimum payment to automaticDo firstWeek 2
  • Check whether a balance transfer would genuinely save moneyWeek 4
  • Three-month review of the balancesDo firstMonth 3
  • When a card is cleared, roll its payment onto the nextDo firstMonth 6

Routines

  • Check card balances and spendingweekly
✦ It comes with a note

Avalanche or snowball

Avalanche: extra payments go to the highest interest rate first. It saves the most money. Snowball: extra payments go to the smallest balance first. It clears a card sooner, which helps some people keep going.

Either works, as long as every minimum is paid and the extra goes to one card at a time. The plan that gets followed beats the plan that is best on paper.

✦ Questions

Pay off credit card debt, answered.

Pay the minimum on every card and put every extra amount on one card at a time. The highest interest rate first (the avalanche) saves the most money; the smallest balance first (the snowball) clears a card sooner, which helps some people keep going. Either beats spreading extra payments thinly.
It can be, if the transfer fee is lower than the interest it saves and the balance can realistically be cleared before the introductory rate ends. It goes badly when the old card is used again, which is why stopping new spending comes first in this plan.
Not necessarily. Closing a card can reduce your available credit and affect your credit score, so many people keep old cards open with nothing on them. If a card is a temptation, removing it from wallets and saved payment details can be enough.
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