{"id":13601,"date":"2021-03-02T13:50:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T08:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stechguide.com\/?p=13601"},"modified":"2021-03-23T21:06:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T15:36:41","slug":"4-ways-to-consolidate-credit-card-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stechguide.com\/4-ways-to-consolidate-credit-card-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Consolidate Credit Card Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Signing up for a new credit card often seems like a great idea, especially if you earn perks for doing so. But over time, it can be easy to inadvertently accumulate more accounts than is really comfortable to manage on a monthly basis. If you\u2019re currently in this boat, it may make you feel less alone to hear the average American actually has <\/span>three credit cards and 2.4 retail store cards<\/span><\/a>, as cited by <\/span>NerdWallet<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trying to make decisions about how to pay off multiple balances \u2014\u00a0let alone stay on top of the amounts and due dates for each account \u2014 can derail your progress toward effectively working down your debts. It\u2019s very common to find yourself \u201crunning on a treadmill,\u201d or making the payments required to keep accounts current but not necessarily getting any closer to getting out of debt. In fact, the opposite can be true as credit card debt interest charges keep compounding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Credit card consolidation aims to address these challenges of dealing with multiple accounts and high interest rates. Here are four ways to approach the consolidation process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Open a Balance-Transfer Credit Card<\/b><\/h3>\n

We did cover some of the dangers of opening credit cards in the introduction. However, a balance-transfer credit card is not your typical card. Its purpose is to provide borrowers with a set introductory period without interest accumulating on the balance(s) they have transferred to the new card. Some common promotional periods you may find are six, 12 or 18 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking advantage of this introductory period to pay down your debt interest-free is crucial, as saving money requires <\/span>offsetting the transfer fee<\/span><\/a> \u2014\u00a0often somewhere in the ballpark of three to five percent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Get a Personal\/Consolidation Loan to Pay Off Credit Cards<\/b><\/h3>\n

Although qualifying for a personal or consolidation loan at a low enough interest rate is typically easier, <\/span>credit card consolidation for bad credit<\/span><\/a> is sometimes possible for those willing to shop around between lenders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether or not a consolidation loan makes sense for you depends on a few things:<\/span><\/p>\n