Borrow the maximum from a 0% credit card with the longest term, pay off high interest rate debt and then focus on paying off the 0% card. Keep transferring the 0% debt to a new 0% credit card 6 weeks before the old one expires and flips into a high interest rate.
Be sure you never use the 0% for any other purpose; just pay the debt off. Be sure the fee is capped at $50 or $70, don't pay 3% fee or that is like paying interest. Get the longest term offered and switch to another one at least 6 weeks before it expires.
D.L.of MD8:14PM June 12, 2012
I have my online bank send me a daily statement to let me know how much credit card debt I'm racking up, and how much balance I have left in checking. This gives me a daily idea of where I'm at. For long-term expenses, I have $100 auto-deducted from every paycheck (after 401k deductions and such) tossed into an emergency fund. This paid off handsomly recently when my old motorcycle bought the farm, and I had to buy a new one. When I'm grocery shopping, I generally stick with $5/meal. I'm prone to splurging on food, like weird snack nuts or pre-cooked chicken or sandwiches. When my bill ends up $70 for just 2 bags of groceries, I know to trim back and monitor my splurging again. For the most part, sticking with a standard grocery list / diet helps a lot: beans, eggs, lean proteins on sale, frozen veggies, etc. As a guy, dating can be a major expense. Dinner and a movie has gone from $30 for a whole evening to $80+ ($50 for dinners, $25/ea + $15/ea for tickets). My gf knows I like to splurge on dinner and a movie on the weekend, and occasionally we splurge on other once-in-a-blue-moon things, like a small trip or event. But, those things can quickly chew through any money you have. Being a chronic bar hopper (which neither my gf nor I am) can also eat your money like popcorn, since many drinks are $5-10/ea. I love to cut back on the day-to-day stuff if it lets me splurge occasionally. But, making sure I have automated withdrawals tossing money into investments and emergency funds is the best thing I've done. You don't have to be anal retentive about tracking your money. You just have to keep a day-to-day idea of what your'e spending and where it's going.
Reader Comments
Back to article
D.L. of MD 8:14PM June 12, 2012
blah blah of TX 1:18PM May 22, 2012