TMJ4 News interviewed Steven Dashiell, a Credit Card Expert with Finder.com about the best ways people can tackle their holiday debt in the new year.
Here are four of the tips he shared during our interview.
1.) Put your stimulus money or tax refund (if you get one) toward your credit card debt.
"If you don't need to say that $600 that came in for anything urgent like rent or food, or anything like that, a good use of that money is to pay down your debt," Dashiell said.
2.) Do a balance transfer (consolidate your debt to a credit card with 0% interest.
"There are a few caveats. One is you have to open a new credit card," he said.
"If that's something you can add to your wallet, then go for it," he continued.
Dashiell said in 2020, we started to see a decline in these balance transfer offers, so your options may be limited. He also said you need to have a good credit score to get the best deal.
"If you don't have great credit, your options are going to be even more limited and the most you can transfer to a balance transfer card is usually determined by that card's credit limit. So again, if you have a poor credit score, or maybe not an excellent credit score, your maximum limit is going to be smaller, and thus the amount of debt you can transfer over to that card is going to be smaller," Dashiell said.
3.) If a balance transfer card isn't an option for you, you can still move your debt to just one card with the lowest interest rate.
"It's especially useful to have just one interest rate you're worried about rather than four," Dashiell said.
4.) Don't pay the minimum on your credit card statement. It's easier said than done, but by paying the entire balance each month, you don't have to worry about paying interest.