Paying your credit card bill might not be the most enjoyable activity in your life. But it’s also not a negotiable one. Failing to keep up with your credit cards can lead to serious issues, such as damaging your credit score and falling deep into debt. Let’s take a look at how to pay your credit card bill so you can avoid these potential problems.
Why Is Paying Your Credit Card Bill Important?
Credit cards are particularly dangerous because they offer an easy-to-acquire form of debt that comes with an exceedingly high interest rate. While you have the option to make a minimum payment each month in order to keep in good standing with the lender, doing this for all of your credit cards can quickly lead to trouble.
When you only make a minimum payment, most of your balance is going to be accumulating interest at a high rate. This means your balances can actually grow bigger and bigger, even if you’re paying on them. Doing this with several accounts can land you in a position where you’re suddenly deep in debt without any way out. Therefore, you need to know how to pay your credit card bill, or else risk serious financial trouble.
Things get even worse if you’re unable to make a payment at all. In this case, your account will eventually be sent to collections, which will lead to endless headaches and calls from collection agents. Furthermore, not paying your credit cards can heavily damage your credit score—making it more difficult to obtain financing later on when you might need it for a car our housing.
How to Pay Your Credit Card Bill
There are two things to consider when thinking about how to pay your credit card bill. First, you want to know the various credit card payment options, and which makes most sense for someone in your position.
There are several routes you can take to pay your credit card bill. The best of these is typically to set up an online automatic payment, where the full balance is taken from your checking account each month. It doesn’t matter much when you choose to pay as long as it’s before the payment due date. However, you can also choose to pay your bill manually if you’re tight on funds and don’t want to risk overdrawing your checking account. The important thing is that you keep up with making payments.
This leads us to the second key consideration for how to pay your credit card bill: if you’re simply unable to do so at all due to financial hardship. If no credit card payment options work for you, then it might be time to seek out assistance or alternative methods.
What to Do if You Can’t Pay Your Credit Card Bill
There are several things consumers can do if they’re unable to pay their credit card bills. One of the first options on the table can be looking into debt consolidation. This is where several credit accounts are combined into one. When you do a credit card balance transfer, which is a form of debt consolidation you can perform on your own, you can bring many of your credit accounts together, which simplifies repayment. But beyond this, credit card balance transfers also come with a low introductory interest rate. This can give you a chance to get ahead of your debt during a period where you’re not accumulating interest.
A home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a debt relief program might provide a way out of credit card debt for those who need a more substantial plan. You can learn more about these at www.freedomdebtrelief.com. Freedom Debt Relief is one of the most trusted debt relief companies around, which is obvious from their many positive reviews.
If you’re struggling with your credit card bills, you should also think about reaching out to a credit counseling agency. These are organizations that specialize in helping consumers regain their financial footing. A credit counselor can provide you with valuable educational materials, or even help create a debt management plan (DMP) for you. Many of their services are totally free, so it’s usually worth at least contacting them.
The average U.S. consumer has well over $6,100 in credit card debt. For those who are heavily utilizing credit cards, knowing how to pay your bill is key to maintain or regaining your financial wellbeing.