Give your debt a fright!

Don't allow debt to sink its fangs into you. Here's how to scare it off!

It’s that time of year again, with ghouls, ghosts and goblins arriving at your front door in search of goodies (and that’s just the in-laws!).

However, while I can sleep easy with zombies, vampires and werewolves walking the streets, the one thing guaranteed to cause me to wake, screaming, in the middle of the night is the thought of my credit card bill.

Having spent a lot of money in recent months getting ready for our baby’s arrival, there’s a fair bit to pay off and I don’t want to end up getting whacked with painful interest payments.

So how do I turn the table on my debt and scare it off?

An antidote to debt!

One way to give your credit card debt an almighty fright is to move the debt onto a balance transfer credit card which offers 0% interest for an extended period.

This allows you to really spread the payments, rather than having to pay it all off at once.

At the moment, there are a stack of cracking balance transfer credit cards offering you 0% interest for over a year. However, it’s worth remembering that in order to move the debt over to a balance transfer card, you will have to pay a fee, usually around 3% of the debt itself. You also can’t transfer a debt within the same provider – so if the credit card you did your spending on is from MBNA, you can’t move it to another MBNA card!

I’ve put together a round-up of 10 tremendous balance transfer cards available at the minute.

The debt that won’t die!

While 16 months seems like plenty of time for me to clear my relatively small debt, if you’ve got a large stack of debt on your card then it might not quite do the job. If your debt won’t die, then drive a stake through its heart with a lifetime balance transfer card.

These work in a similar fashion to traditional balance transfer cards, except that rather than having a period of 0% interest, you’ll enjoy a low rate of interest for the entire lifetime of the debt. What’s more, with some cards, you won’t have to pay a penny to move that debt over either!

Have a read of Three reasons not to get a 0% card for more on what size debt you need to have for a lifetime balance transfer card to work out cheapest. In the meantime, I’ve highlighted two of my favourite cards in this market at the moment.

Avoiding debt's clutches!

Of course, there is a way to prevent yourself from becoming a debt zombie in the first place, by being clever with your cards.

If you know that you have some serious spending ahead, it's a pretty good idea to sort yourself out with a credit card offering interest-free purchases.

Much like using a 0% balance transfer card, this way you get to spread the payments of your purchases, without being punished with venomous interest charges along the way.

Below I've put together a collection of some of the best 0% on new purchases cards – think of them like your string of garlic for guarding against the vampires of debt!

Overwhelmed by debt!

All of this is great if you're in a decent credit position overall. But what if debt has had its ghoulish clutches around you for far longer, to the point where your debt is far more serious than something that can be scared away simply by shuffling your credit cards around?

The first thing that has to happen is for you to get scared. Really scared. Many of us are only too happy to bury our heads in the sand, pretend things aren't really that bad. It's only by admitting we have a debt problem, and allowing it to give us a real fright that we can start to deal with our debts. Have a read of these 10 signs that you're in financial danger.

Once you've come to terms with the fact that you're in serious debt, there are several different debt antidotes available to you - so don't think you can't tackle it. For some, your debt can be killed simply by some budgeting adjustments. For others, a more formal arrangement, such as an IVA may be necessary.

And you don't have to do this on your own. The one way to work out the best method for you to scare off your debt for good is to talk. Get some advice from professionals, who can give you some guidance. Sure, there are plenty of firms that will offer debt advice and charge a fee, but given you can get that guidance for free, I'd definitely go with organisations such as Citizens Advice or the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. Be sure to have a read of where to get free debt services for some great tips on how to get the debt help you need.

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