How to Pay Off Credit Cards Sooner

Credit card debt can be very intimidating. Whether you had to make a large purchase by credit or your spending simply got out of hand, it can seem like you will never be able to pay more than the minimum payments on every account. This can leave you paying hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in interest over the years. According to financial experts such as Dave Ramsey, there is an effective way to pay off your debts quickly while remaining psychologically and financially focused on the final goal.

Instructions

1

Make a list of all your credit card debts from the smallest balance to the largest. If you have more than one card with the same balance, you should give precedence to the one that has the higher interest rate.

2

Make all of your minimum payments to each card every month except the one with the lowest balance. To this card, you should pay the minimum balance as well as all the available funds you have. Do this each month until the lowest balance is paid off and move on to the next lowest one.

3

Continue to employ this method when you pay your bills each month. As you pay each balance off, add the minimum payment amount from the previous balances paid off to the payment for whatever card you are focusing on. Since you have already budgeted for that amount from the beginning, it will go further if you continue to apply it to your debt. Don't think of every balance paid off as one less payment per month, but as that much more than you can contribute to your debt. As you eliminate your debt, you will be able to take larger chunks out of the remaining balances.

4

Transfer balances whenever possible to any cards that offer a better interest rate while you are in the process of paying off your credit cards. The lower your interest is, the less you will ultimately pay and the faster you will be free of your debt.