So what happens if you have a huge credit card balance and can’t pay it off at this time due financial circumstance? Or you may want to ask what do I need to do so that I don’t have to pay for my credit card bills? There are a couple of things you can do depending on the situation. First thing first, if you can’t pay off the entire balance, pay at least the minimum to avoid late fees. The financial charge will still apply for the remaining balance. Call the credit card company to find out if they can low the APR for another 6 months or even 12 months. If you consistently pay the minimum in the past, chances are they will go lenient on you. Secondly, compare the current APR and compare with other credit cards. They are many cards that offer special balance transfer for as low as 0% for at least 6 months. But remember, this is the only temporary solution. You have to figure out how to pay off the balance at the end of six months.

If you really have to rely on balance transfers make sure to find the ones that offer you the longest Intro APR period. Like I said before, 6 month is the minimum. Many cards give you 18 even 21 months special APR on balance transfer and purchases. One thing to keep in mind is that although the monthly payment is very low you will need to manage to pay offer the entire balance at the end of the intro period. If you have a huge amount transferred from the old card you should pay a bit more than the minimum due – the better way to do it is to divide the entire balance by 21 months or whatever the number of months the financial institution is giving you. Let’s say you have $5000 credit card debt, you should pay about $240 each month for the next 21 months. There will be no surprise at the end. Another thing to keep in mind is never make any purchase with the new card. Some cards offer different intro APR and period for balance transfer and purchase. Don’t mess them up. You can apply for a different card just for purchase you need to. Just remember to pay off the balance each month so you don’t have to repeat the “balance transfer method” again. Once you forget the pay the entire balance you will end up accumulating more debts instead.

Some people have way more cards to use than they really should. In the case you forget to pay the bill when balance is due you should contact the credit card issuers first to find out if they are willing to waive the late fee and financial charges. Most of the time, if you don’t have a history of late payment and always pay in full in the past, they will credit back the fee in the next statement. My recommendation is to cut down the number of cards you own, especially the company or department store credit cards you signed up just to take advantage of one time saving.

In the next post, I will talk about other ways of avoiding credit card bills.