Common Credit Card Debt Mistakes
When thinking about different ways and means for minimizing your credit card balances it is important to dodge the many credit card debt mistakes at all cost. One of the most popular and most detrimental methods for only increasing the overall size of your credit card balances is to utilize the balance transfer trap. Just what is this trap and why is it so detrimental to your debt management plan? We will discuss those very important reasons for side-stepping, at all cost, the pie-in-the-sky balance transfer trap that so many credit cards of limited ethics and morals present in so many different marketing tactics.
It usually starts out with you receiving an offer in the mail or these days through any e-mail spamming marketing program that comes with a low balance transfer introductory offer. The advertisement goes into saying ‘why not transfer all of your existing credit card debt from a credit card or two or maybe all of them that have a not-so-handsome interest rate and slide it on over to our card with a lower introductory only interest rate?’ Please remember the key term here introductory as this is the bait and switch that balance transfer traps are so well-known for.
The issue with transferring your existing credit card balances to a new card with a lower interest rate is at this rate almost certainly goes up to at least equal and many times above your current interest rate(s) and puts you in a worse position than ever. To break it down more simply this credit card debt mistake is one of the most popular and for reasons that make most financial experts scratch their head in disbelief.
There are many stories of individuals having a moderate debt issue with cards in the amount of $25-$50,000 and after they transferred those balances to the new credit card with the lower introductory fee 19 months later they were looking at a debt load of $85-$100,000. You might say, ‘well what did they buy was it a new home or maybe a fleet of Lincoln Continentals or maybe they went on a luxurious vacation to Belize and spent $15,000 on a timeshare on the beach?’ All they did was transfer their balances and after the introductory rate expired the 27% to 30% interest rate slammed them as hard as a linebacker with an attitude! Be careful about balance transfer traps and make certain that you read the fine print with the introductory offer expiration date. This is where you will dodge the credit mistakes that are haunting so many individuals in today’s debt management world.
