| We all, over the course of our lives, sometimes rely on | | | | that way. Many credit card companies will give you a |
| credit to get by. Whether it is for a mortgage on our | | | | card, albeit with high interest after a period of time, that |
| home, a loan for a car, or a payday loan to get by until | | | | for the first 6 months to a year comes with 0% |
| next Friday, there's little we can do to escape the | | | | interest on all credit card transfers. What this means is, |
| effect of a debtors society. But the way you handle | | | | if you use your new card to pay a big chunk of your |
| your debt is something you can have a say in, and | | | | old card, you pay no interest on the new card for a |
| indeed the way you do so could mean you save - or | | | | set period of time. Now, of course once that time is up, |
| spend - thousands of dollars a year. Let's imagine you | | | | they'll put you right back on the expensive interest rate, |
| have a few credit cards on the go. One of them, the | | | | but for a short time, the money you pay on your credit |
| card you had since you were in college, has a few | | | | card is ALL-principal. Credit card companies don't like |
| grand racked up on it, and because you missed a few | | | | you doing this too much - in fact, they'll put it on your |
| payments way back when, the interest rate is at 19%. | | | | credit card report if you do it more than a couple of |
| Ouch. But most of us never look at the interest rate | | | | times - but if you're looking to get out of a short term |
| we're paying, because, quite frankly, we don't give it a | | | | financial logjam, look for those introductory offers and |
| second thought. MasterCard says we owe them $184 | | | | use a new card to pay off your old card. Oh, and |
| this month, so we pay $184. But it doesn't have to be | | | | when you do - shut the old card down! |