Should I pay off one credit card completely or make a partial payment towards my four other credit cards?

[Date_a_Snob]

pay off one credit card completely

make partial payment towards my four other credit cards

[DJB72]

Snowball your payments. I know a few people who have done this and seen it work.

One guy I know paid off his house in two years doing this:

1] eliminate all luxuries. No Netflix, streaming, whatever. There's movies on YouTube and books in a library. Remember it's short term...

2] list every creditor you have. Store cards, credit cards, home loans, bank loans, everything.

3] take every cent you earn. Look at the minimum you need to live on. Put it to one side. Take what's left and make the minimum payment on every creditor except the SMALLEST amount outstanding.

4] pay every spare cent you have into the SMALLEST loan/card each month until it's paid off completely and close the card/loan

5] roll the total you were paying to that account onto the smallest remaining loan.

6] repeat 4] and 5] until you've paid off everything.

Most people could clear everything except a home loan in two years and including the home loan in five by doing this because of elimination of compound interest

When you're debt free get a credit card that gives you 30 days to pay off the balance completely with a limit of 90% of your monthly income after tax. Set up every repeating monthly payment to go off your new credit card - transaction fees are usually lower on a credit card than a debit card.

Use the credit card to do all your expenses. Food, gas, electricity, phone, everything.

Every 28 days pay the card off in a single payment. Take the remaining 10% of your income and invest it in something that will bring in an income over time. Look at what Warren Buffet is investing in and shadow him.

Over time this snowball effect of living within 90% of your monthly income would let you invest enough over about ten years to quit your job.

I've just started it myself. Cleared two loans so far.

The guy I learned from did it about 15 years ago and earns high 6 figures off his investments. He still works part time to stop getting bored - stacking shelves in a supermarket. Drives to work in a Mercedes he bought new for cash.

Good luck.

[WindAtMyBack]

Make the minimum payment on all of them. After that pay off the highest interest card first.

If you can't afford to make the minimum payment on all of them, you should pay the minimum on as many as you can. Late penalties will be higher than the interest, so try hard to avoid penalties.

If you are really having a hard time making payments, contact the card companies and see if you can work something out, like a smaller minimum payment.

However, if you have been making minimum payment on a card, it's unlikely they will work with you even if you are no longer able to keep up those payments. They see a regular payment history, and assume you are not having a problem.

Check into consolidating all your debt into a single debt. You might be able to transfer your higher interest cards into a lower interest card, or even a new card with a 0% teaser rate. You might also get a loan with a lower fixed rate than you are paying on the cards.

Do not get into the teaser rate trap. If you keep doing those teaser rates, without making progress paying off the balance, you could end up in serious trouble. You may suddenly stop getting those offers. So you want to take advantage of teaser rates and get your balance as low as possible.

[Daniela1982]

Cut up your cards and get credit counseling. You are in a common credit mistake - spending too much easy money and not being able to pay it off. Just making the minimum payment might take you years to pay off, providing you stop spending. They say pay off the one with the highest interest rate or the least owed. Then focus on the next highest after the first is paid off, and so on. If you keep using them you will wind up paying mostly interest and not much principal. You might be able to consolidate your loans and just make one monthly payment. But again, that only works if you stop spending. Ultimately, you may wind up with a bad credit reporting and score, which will affect any loans you may want in the future and will result in a higher interest rate when you do get one. 😟

[JenniCollins97]

After college i was in some serious CC debt, I did some balance transfers to low rate cards then ranked them by highest rates and focused on paying them off first. It goes down quicker than you think. Took 2 years but was dept free after that.

[Date_a_Snob]

it will probably take me that long to get out of debt.

[Static_In_The_Attic]

Unfortunately debt happens & when it comes to credit cards it is very easy to swipe here & swipe there & the next thing you know you the bills are coming in & you have a financial mess on your hands. In life there are WANTS & there are NEEDS & until you pull yourself out of debt you are going to have to separate the two & stick to a budget. As for paying off your credit card debt start with paying off the card with the highest interest rate & work your way down to the lowest & go from there.

[MrOracle]

Pay off the one with the highest interest rate, while making at least the minimum payment on the others BEFORE the DUE DATE - which is before the penalty date.

Repeat the process until they are all paid off.

Do not close them, as that will negatively affect your credit score.

[RebelinSteel]

Pay off one totally.

the awkward bit is which card do you pay off in full first.

my view is the one with the largest balance with the highest APR, but also paying off minimum payment for the rest.

Also check if any have a zero interest balance transfer or similar.

you may be able to move highest apr cards to that one and pay off asap.

its about time and have something to live off.

[JacobJordan]

You need to do all but focus extra payments on 1 at a time. If you stop paying all of them most will default to a collection agency and that is bad for you and your credit. So best to do minimum payments on all and put extra payments towards the lowest to get it to zero. As soon as it is at zero close the account.

[MicroJ]

I'd definitely try to pay one off completely. Take the card with the highest APR, and pay the balance off.

Pay a little more than the minimum on the others if you can, and then try to pay the others off completely when you can.

The trick is not going crazy and keeping the usage and balance amounts obtainable month to month.

[Wiredone]

If you are deep in debt, go to a credit counseling where they can help you reduce what is owed. They will consolidate all your bills into one payment. Cut up the cards with the highest interest rate. Then watch your spending. Set up a monthly budget and stick to it

[ohsheeT]

Get them all combined I'll put into one that way you're only playing one interest loan if you keep paying on all four or five or six of them you're going to be paying nothing but interest

[exitseven]

pay off the ones with the highest interest rate first. When you get one paid off, cut it up into little pieces.

[EmmaMary]

Consolidate them and make one monthly payment.

[genericname85]

i think making payments on multiple cards is better for your credit score than just paying off one.

[TommyMountainFigure]

Look at the APR for each card and pay off the one with the highest interest rate first!

[TommyMountainFigure]

I have automatically assumed you pay the 'minimum payment' on all cards first, as that is a given.

[jamesgoldman]

Snowballing

It is the best way to clear debt and start to save eventually

[Date_a_Snob]

Dave Ramsey right?

[jamesgoldman]

Yeah, about the only good bit of advice he gives

[nyc_j]

And even then, avalanching (highest interest first) will save you more money than snowballing. So even when Ramsey *almost* gives good advice, it isn't quite ideal.

[jamesgoldman]

That's even better advice... I cleared mine years ago and they've both been cancelled for inactivity

[nyc_j]

Well, I try not to go THAT far! I try to put a little purchase on old cards every once in a while to keep the credit age, and then pay it off on the next statement. But congrats on the clear-off!

[jamesgoldman]

Yeah I know to do that next time I get one... its good but not having that extra to secure eBay deals is a pain

[nyc_j]

Exactly. Good to have one long-held, occasionally-used, no-annual-fee card to anchor your credit age. All in all, nicely done.

[jamesgoldman]

Exactly

[bowenw]

Pay them all off if you can using a line of credit with a lower interest rate.

[gorydetails]

Pay off the highest interest first. throw every penny you can at it. Making minimum payments will never pay down the principle you owe.

[OtterMan68]

pay off the one with the highest interest rate

[riverrat3]

If you pay off one, next mont you can start paying extra on the other 3

[Date_a_Snob]

great advice!

[Paul09]

Put minimum on all. Pay off bigger one. Then cut up 3 cards when you're done.

[azgınteke]

I paid it all and closed it. Life is great without a credit card.

[AviatorTom]

Follow the sage advice of @MrOracle

[katiesmuff]

Sounds like a sound prudent plan!

[normalice]

Pay off highest interest rates first

[KrakenAttackin]

Pay off the higher interest rate card.

[red324]

Pay one off completely, but don't be late.

[LunarEclipse433]

Pay off the highest interest first to save money

[strateguy632]

.1st