We all get them — credit card offers in the mail, in your email, via online ads, everywhere. Every credit card company in the world is trying to get you to sign-up and use their cards, even if you already have plenty of cards. The big thing going now is credit balance transfers from one card to another.
Even if you are working with poor credit, most credit card companies are willing to offer you something. They make their offers more attractive by allowing you to transfer other credit balances to their card, to pay down your debt while getting a brief reprieve from interest charges.
Is it a good idea to open a new card, to transfer all your other balances to and pay down one card? Lets take a look at both sides.
Yes, You Should
Being able to pay down all of your debt in one payment is a huge deal. You should take this route if you are able to transfer all or most of your debt, and then pay it off in the 12–15 month span that the new card offers with no interest. If you have enough discipline, then this could be a good choice, as it will relive the stress of having to make multiple payments to multiple cards, all of which are charging huge interest rates.
No, You Shouldn’t
The offer is tempting, but honestly you shouldn’t, and here is why — you know that you will only end up transferring your debt to that card, and then using the freed up cards to get yourself into more debt. Also, you already know that you are not going to pay off that transferred debt within the specified amount of time. This is only going to lead you into even more debt insurmountable debt. If you get to this point, you may be looking at bankruptcy or other options.
While the offer of credit card balance transfers is attractive, it isn’t for everyone. Sit down and see if you can pull it off, as it does provide an option for help. However, if handled poorly, you will find yourself in even more debt than before.