Do you know how you can reduce debt using a balance transfer????

Using a balance transfer might be a good way to reduce your debt. Some credit card companies offer a low or 0% introductory APR for a limited amount of time, which will allow you to contribute more to paying down your debt. Find a credit card to transfer your balance to and then identify which debts you want to transfer. Remember to use all money available to pay down your debt as soon as possible. After the promotional period ends, you will be charged again (with interest) on your remaining debt.

Part One of Three:
Finding Cards with a Low APR
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1
Check your current cards. You might have a credit card that already offers balance transfers. Often, the bank will send you something in the mail letting you know you can make a balance transfer.
Alternately, you should look at your online account and check. There may be a link for “balance transfer” or “consolidate debt.” If you don’t see anything, call and ask a customer service representative.
Pay attention to whether a current card is already carrying a balance. For example, you might have a $3,000 balance on card A, which you want to transfer to card B. However, card B already has a $2,000 balance. If you make the transfer, then the minimum payment amount will go to the amount with the lower APR.[1] Meanwhile, the original $2,000 balance continues to accrue interest at 14.99%.
In the above situation, you might want to make a balance transfer to a new card.

2
Search for credit cards online. There are many websites where you can compare credit cards. Remember that you can’t transfer a balance between cards with the same bank.[2] Accordingly, look for cards offered by a different bank. Use the following comparison websites:[3]
Bankrate.com
CardHub.com
CreditCards.com
CreditKarma.com
NerdWallet.com

3
Compare terms. You want to get a card that has the most favorable terms so that you can pay off your debt as fast as possible. Consider the following terms when comparing credit cards:
Transfer rate. Many cards offer a 0% APR for a certain amount of time (such as 12-18 months). The longer this promotional period, the better. You can save thousands of dollars in interest depending on your balance.[4]
Transfer fee. Most cards will charge a certain amount, such as 3-5% of the total balance amount.[5] If you transfer $10,000, then a $300-500 fee will be added on top.
Transfer window. Some cards will give you only so much time to request the balance transfer.
Post-promotion APR. Find out what happens if you can’t pay the entire balance off during the promotional period. Generally, banks will charge you interest only on the remaining balance. However, you don’t want a card that retroactively applies interest against the entire initial transfer.

4
Check your credit score. It’s easiest to get a credit card for a balance transfer if you have a credit score of 680 or higher.[6] If your score is lower, you might have fewer options or you might not be able to get a card at all.
You can find your credit score by using a credit card service. Look online. Some companies will provide your score for free.
You can also check with a credit counselor or HUD-approved housing counselor, who can typically get your credit score for free.[7]
Finally, you can also buy your score from one of the credit reporting agencies—Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. You might also buy your FICO score from myfico.com.
Apply for the card. You can apply for your card over the phone, online, or using a paper application. In any event, you’ll be asked for some personal information, such as the following:[8]
legal name
birth date
home address
contact information (such as phone number and email address)
current and previous employers
annual income
information on other credit cards
Social Security Number
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Part Two of Three:
Transferring Your Debts
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1
List your debts. You might not be able to transfer all of your debts to a new card. For example, the new card might have a debt limit of $5,000. If you have $25,000 in total debt, you’ll need to identify which debts to transfer. List the debts and include the following information:[9]
total balance
interest rate
any penalties or fees that are assessed

2
Choose which debts to transfer. Generally, you should transfer your highest-interest debts to the new card. If you have multiple credit card debts, try to move as much of the balance with the highest interest rate.
For example, your new card might have a $5,000 limit. You have two debts: $3,000 and $6,000. The card with the $3,000 balance has an APR of 29.99% and the other card has an APR of 13.99%. You can use a balance transfer to cover all of the $3,000 balance and then some of the $6,000.
Remember that balance transfer fees count toward the maximum you can transfer.

3
Transfer when you open the card. With some cards, you can enter in the account number and the amount you want to transfer when you open the card. This can make transferring the balance very easy.[10]

4
Make a transfer online. Alternately, you might need to go online and sign into your online banking account. Look for a link for “balance transfer” or “promotions.”
Enter the account number of the credit card with the balance. Then enter the amount you want to transfer. You may also need to provide the payment address for the credit card you are paying off.[11]

5
Transfer using an access check. Access checks look like personal checks. However, they are tied to your credit card. You can write out a check to the credit card company for the amount you want to transfer.[12]
Be careful and read the fine print. Not all access checks are the same. Some banks will let you use them for balance transfers, but others might consider any use of the access check to be a cash advance. Cash advances have huge interest rates, so make sure the access check will count as a balance transfer.
Call up and ask questions, if necessary.
Deposit money directly into the bank. Some cards allow you to deposit money directly into your bank account from the credit card. Read the card’s terms to see if you can deposit money at the promotional interest rate. Some banks might classify the deposit as a “cash advance.”[13]
A direct deposit frees up money to pay off all kinds of debts, not necessarily only other credit card debt. For example, you might owe your mother $1,000. You can deposit this amount of money into your checking account and then cut a personal check to pay back your mother.

7
Stay current on your payments. It generally can take a few days for the transfer to go through. If you haven’t seen it go through within 10 days, then call the credit card company. In the meantime, don’t miss payments.
For example, your balance transfer might not go through by the time your next payment is due on a card. If not, remember to make payment so you aren’t delinquent.
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Part Three of Three:
Paying Off Your Debts Faster
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1
Make timely payments. If you’re 60 days late on your payment, then the bank might end the promotional period early.[14] For this reason, you need to remember to pay your bills on time.

2
Commit to paying off the balance before the promotional period ends. Your introductory interest rate won’t last forever. Accordingly, try to pay off the balance before you reach the end of the promotional rate period. If you aren’t being charged interest, it should be easy to calculate how much you need to pay each month.
For example, say your card has a 12-month promotional period at 0%. You transfer $3,000 to the card. Over 12 months, you’ll need to pay about $250 a month (plus the balance transfer fee).
If you can’t pay the entire balance in time, you should typically be charged only interest on the remaining balance. However, read your card’s terms.

3
Stop spending. You will only go deeper into debt if you continue to spend.[15] After seeing their monthly payments decrease, some people use the extra money for luxuries. Instead, you need to direct this extra money toward paying down your debt more quickly.
To control spending, cut up your credit cards or freeze them in ice. Doing so will prevent you from using the cards.
In particular, you shouldn’t use the card with the balance. Instead, store the card away.[16]
Don’t close your old accounts after you move the balances off them. Doing so will hurt your credit score.
Digging out of the debt hole can feel frustrating, intimidating and ultimately impossible. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be any of those things if you learn how to take control.

Paying down debt is not only about finding the right financial tools, but also the right psychological ones. You need to understand why you got into debt in the first place. Perhaps it was a medical emergency or a home repair that needed to be taken care of immediately. Maybe you’d already drained your emergency fund on one piece of bad luck when misfortune struck again. Or maybe you’re struggling with a compulsive shopping problem, so paying down debt will likely result in you accumulating more until the addiction is addressed.

Understanding the why and how of your debt isn’t the only reason psychology plays a role in how you should create your debt attack plan.

You also need to understand what motivates you to succeed. Do you want to pay down your debt in the absolute fastest amount of time possible that will save more money or do you want to take some little wins along the way to keep yourself motivated?

The common terms for these debt repayment strategies are:

Debt avalanche: starting with the highest interest rate and working your way down, which saves both time and money.
Debt snowball: paying off small debts first to get the warm and fuzzies that will motivate you to keep going.
Whichever version you pick needs to set you up to be successful in your debt repayment strategy. Now it’s time to find the proper tools to help you dump that debt for good.

The first step in crafting a debt repayment strategy is to understand what you’re eligible to use. Your credit score will play a big role in whether or not you’ll qualify for products like balance transfers or competitive personal loan offers.

A credit score of less than 600 will make it difficult for you to qualify for a personal loan and will eliminate you from taking on a balance transfer offer.

If you have a credit score above 600, you have a good chance of qualifying for a personal loan at a much lower interest rate than your credit card debt. With new internet-only personal loan companies, you can shop for loans without hurting your score. Use this tool to see if you can get approved for a loan without hurting your score. Click here to get rates from multiple lenders in just a few minutes, without a credit inquiry hurting your score. For people with the best scores, rates start as low as 4.80%.
If you have a score above 700, you could also qualify for 0% balance transfer offers.
Now let’s talk about the financial tools to add into your debt repayment strategy in order to dig out of the hole.

Let’s say you have $10,000 in credit card debt, and are stuck paying 18% interest on it.

You already know that putting as much spare cash as you can toward paying down your debt is the most important thing to do. But once you’ve done that, so what’s next?

Use your good credit to make banks compete and cut your rates

MagnifyMoney’s Paying Down Debt Guide has easy to follow tips on how to put banks to work for you and get your rates cut.

You could save $1,800 a year in interest and lower your monthly payments based on several of the rates available today. That means you could pay it off almost 20% faster.

Here’s how it works.

Option One: Use a Balance Transfer (or Multiple Balance Transfers)

If you trust yourself to open a new credit card but not spend on it, consider a balance transfer. You may be able to cut your rate with a long 0% intro APR. You need to have a good credit score, and you might not get approved for the full amount that you want to transfer.

Your own bank might not give you a lower rate (or only drop it by a few percent), but there are lots of competing banks that may want to steal the business and give you a better rate.

Our favorite offer is Chase Slate®. You can save with a $0 introductory balance transfer fee and get 0% introductory APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, and $0 annual fee. Plus, receive your Monthly FICO® Score for free.
If you don’t think Chase is for you, consider Discover, which offers an intro 0% APR for 18 months (with a 3% balance transfer fee). MagnifyMoney keeps the most complete list of the longest and lowest rate deals available right now, including deals with no fees. Just answer a few questions about how your debt and much you can afford to pay, and you’ll get a personal list of the deals that will save you the most.

It also has six tips to make sure you do a balance transfer safely. If you follow them you’ll save thousands on your debt by beating the banks at their game.

You might be scared of a balance transfer, but there is no faster way to cut your interest payments than taking advantage of the best 0% or low interest deals banks are offering.

Thanks to recent laws, balance transfers aren’t as sneaky as they used to be, and friendlier for helping you cut your debt.

Sometimes the first bank you deal with won’t give you a big enough credit line to handle all your credit card debt. Maybe you’ll get a $5,000 credit line for a 0% deal, but have $10,000 in debt. That’s okay. In that case, apply for the next best balance transfer deal you see. MagnifyMoney’s list of deals makes it easy to sort them.

Banks are okay with you shopping around for more than one deal.

Option Two: Personal Loan

If you never want to see another credit card again, you should consider a personal loan. You can get prequalified without hurting your credit score, and find the best deal to pay off your debt faster. With just one application, you can get multiple loan offers with rates as low as 5.99% here.

Personal loan rates are often about 10-20%, but can sometimes be as low as 5-6% if you have very good credit.

Moving from 18% interest on a credit card to 10% on a personal loan is a good deal for you. You’ll also get one set monthly payment, and pay off the whole thing in 3 to 5 years.

Sometimes this may mean a higher monthly payment than you’re used to, but you’re better off putting your cash toward a higher payment with a lower rate.

And you’ll get out of debt months or years faster by leaving more money to pay down the debt itself. One of our favorite lenders is SoFi, which has some of the lowest interest rates on the market if you have good or excellent credit. Variable interest rates start as low as 4.99%*. You can apply now on their website, without impacting your credit score, by clicking on the apply button below.
What is a balance transfer? If you’ve racked up debt on a high-interest credit card, transferring the balance to a card with a lower interest rate can be a great way to simplify multiple debt payments as well as save on high interest charges. Here are the nine things you need to know before you make the big switch to a balance transfer credit card.
Transferring isn’t the same as repaying. When you use a balance transfer card, you are, in essence, paying off credit card “A” with new credit card “B.” For example, if you’ve been paying 13 percent interest on a $2,000 debt, you’d have to make a $347 monthly payment for six months to pay off the debt. Transfer that $2,000 to a 0 percent card and your payments will be $334, saving $77 in interest in the process. “The only real, solid, definable benefit from a balance transfer is you can save money over the long haul if you pay back the previous amount you owed and you pay it at a lower interest rate, including all your costs,” says Mike Sullivan, director of education for Take Charge America, a Phoenix-based nonprofit consumer credit counseling company.

2. Consolidating simplifies payments. Another reason to transfer balances to a single low-interest credit card is to simplify your financial life. If you’ve maxed out multiple credit cards, can’t keep payment dates and minimum payments straight and often accrue late fees, putting all your credit card debt on one card may be a good move. You’ll have just one card to keep track of and one payment to make each month.

3. You may transfer other debts, not just credit cards. It’s not just balances from other credit cards that can be transferred. You may be able to move loans for cars, appliances, furniture and other monthly installment payments to a no-interest balance transfer credit card, using checks from the bank that issues the credit card.

4. Fees are inevitable. It isn’t quite as simple as making a swap from a high interest rate to a low interest rate anymore. You will almost always be charged a balance transfer fee, which is determined as a percentage of the total amount you’re transferring. In the past, transfer fees were capped. Today, on most balance transfer cards, there is no cap, so the more you transfer, the bigger the fee. A typical fee in 2017 is 3 percent, so if you transfer a $10,000 debt from another card, you’ll pay a $300 fee right away. Even if you have the cash to do so, it might or might not be worth it, depending on how much money you’ll save on interest over the life of your debt. See if it makes sense for you by using a balance transfer calculator.

5. Transfer rates expire. A balance transfer card woos you with an extra-low annual percentage rate (APR) between 0 percent and 5 percent. That teaser rate, however, doesn’t last forever. After a set period — often a six months to a year, occasionally more, the interest rate will increase, probably to somewhere in the range of 12 percent to 18 percent — perhaps even worse than the interest rate you were trying to get away from. Make a misstep, such as letting payments lag, and your great rate will disappear and in its place will appear the higher “go-to” rate.

6. Careful with new purchases. Just because the balance you transferred to the new card gets a free pass with perhaps a 0 percent interest rate right now doesn’t mean new purchases on the card will be interest-free too. Some balance transfer credit cards’ rules specify that only transferred balances qualify for the lower rate, while new purchases collect interest at the regular, higher APR. Some cards do apply the introductory interest rate to new purchases too, but often only for the first six months.