Budget & Finance > Credit CardsApril 10, 2006

Round Up Credit Card Payments

When paying off credit cards, always round up payments as much as you can. If the minimum payment is $25, try to pay $30. Credit card companies set minimum payments to maximize the amount of interest they can earn from you over the life of the debt. Paying more, even a small amount, significantly decreases how much interest you will end up paying.

By ThriftyFun

Feedback

Read feedback for this post below.

By (Guest Post) 09/22/2006

When we were paying off several debts from the immediate needs of buying our home, we used two tactics that worked well. After making the initial repairs/upgrades that were not optional for safety or health we quit doing work on the house until the debts were paid off. Secondly since I hoped we could pay these off within one year I divided each balance by 12 as the minimum payment then added that month's interest. We never paid interest on interest that year. What a difference that approach made for paying down the principle! There were some tough times stretching the money but the benefits were well worth the effort and some tears of frustration.

By
09/22/2006

Some experts say to pay off the card with the highest balance first, others say to pay off the smallest balance first, and others say to pay the one with the highest interest first. All have good reasons for their choice. People get so confused, that they fail to do anything, which is the biggest mistake of all. Do not allow yourself to be paralyzed. If you seriously want to get out of debt, just pick one and pay extra, no matter how small, till you get it paid off and then start paying on another one. And refuse to charge any more until your debt is gone.

By
04/10/2006

And, of course, if you pay the full amount by the due date, you pay no interest at all. It's like using someone else's money for a month for free!

Related

Post Feedback

Your thoughts are welcomed and appreciated. Enter your feedback here!

Feedback:

Image Upload:

Add an image to your post! Click the "Browse" button above and select an image from your hard drive. Please only select gifs or jpegs. If you have any problems, please contact us.

  

facebook like arrowLike ThriftyFun on Facebook

Browse Topics

Over 80,000 tips, recipes, questions & crafts.

Ask a Question

Submit a question to the TF community.

Subscribe to ThriftyFun Newsletters!

Email: