One of the beautiful things about balance transfers is that they give you the chance to take advantage of 0% APR offers for a time, sometimes even for more than a year. If you have other credit card debt, this can save you quite a bit of money.

wallet

However, there can be a challenge to this if you are already carrying a large amount of debt. This can have a negative impact on your credit rating, and that means you may not be eligible for the best offers.

During the 0% APR time, you need to pay your debts down as fast as possible. If you can keep from adding any non-0% APR transactions to the card, so much the better. Whatever you do, make more than the minimum payments. This way, if you cannot pay it all off by the end you will still have paid off a good amount.

Do not overdo how often you apply for new credit cards. Too many applications are bad for your credit score. However, if you get a nice long 0% APR time, you may be able to switch to a new card and new 0% APR at the end and continue saving money. But the sooner you get things paid off, the better for most people.

Do keep in mind that at the end you will be paying regular credit card interest rates, which will depend on the card terms and your credit rating.

If you have other debt you cannot put to 0% APR, keep that in mind. It can be a bit of a tossup as to whether you want to put extra payments on the money that is currently charging you interest, but possibly at a lower rate, or pay down the 0% interest knowing that in a possibly short time it will be costing you more. Figure out what is best for your situation.

There’s no point in paying out more in interest than you have to. 0% APR credit cards can really help you save a lot of money if you use them wisely.

Technorati Tags: , ,