How to transfer credit card balances wisely

This is a common and easy process. Once you have chosen your card for your balance transfer, there is a spot on the application for balance transfers. This is where you are going to write down the name of your current card that you want to take the debt off of, as well as the amount that you are looking to transfer. Once you have been approved, the process gets even easier. The new card company will take care of paying off the old card, transferring your balance to your new lower-rate card. Don’t forget, that once this is done, if there isn’t a balance left on the old card, go ahead and close it down!

• Things to remember
Don’t forget that you only have the 0% interest for a specified amount of time and that this program won’t last you forever. Take this time and use it to your advantage by paying off as much as you can.
If you do get approved, but say it is for $1000 and your high interest card has a balance of $2000, don’t turn down the opportunity. You will still be saving an interest rate on the $1000 that you do choose to transfer.

• Be careful with this 0% card
There are some things to beware of on this 0% card other than making sure you pay it off in time. Although it may be tempting to use this new card for new purchases, don’t do this. The reason is simple, although they advertise 0% for balance transfers, this does NOT mean that everything on the card is 0%. For everyday purchases, or withdrawals may have a very high interest rate that you didn’t realize at the time, because all you were interested in was the balance transfer deal. Don’t get caught in this trap, just use the card for balance transfer purposes, and not anything else.

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