Redeem your points for rewards
If you have a rewards program, use those points! MasterCard says 40 percent to 60 percent of points never get redeemed. Are you one of those who are piling up points? If you currently have a rewards program, you should go online and see what you can buy for the points you currently have, then do it.
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"Don't hold on to points. You never know when they're going to change the program or devalue points," says Arnold. "To hedge against that risk, it's not good to bank points for a long time."
Citibank and some other card issuers are making it easier to redeem points. "Citibank launched the CashReturns MasterCard this year," says Arnold. "In terms of rewards, it's not the most sexy card out there. The beauty is that you get a reward check automatically when you hit, say, $50 in rewards. An actual check is sent to you. That's pretty rare these days. You can keep up with your points without going online or making a call. Who's got time to follow points?"
Pay off the balance
Most Americans have more than one credit card, and 60 percent of cardholders carry a balance from month to month. If you're a balance carrier, make a commitment to pay off the loan in full on at least one of your cards and then retire that one. With the average interest rate at 14.9 percent, you'll be saving a lot of money each month by not paying interest on that balance.
"The thing we recommend first and foremost is to start with the cards with the highest interest rates," says Nick Jacobs, a spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling in Maryland. "While you're doing this, don't put more stuff on the card. People have a tendency to keep piling on while they're paying it off."
If you have several cards with balances, you might think that transferring them to one card would be a good strategy. But Jacobs says: "Think twice about consolidating on one card only because you're not really getting ahead on anything -- you're taking little debts and making one big one."
For consumers who can't pay down a card at one time, Jacobs suggests paying more than the minimum "so you're getting ahead and not just running interest." Bankrate's debt pay down calculator and calculator for the true cost of paying the minimum can help you tackle your credit card debt and get on the path to fiscal freedom.
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Shop for a card with a better rate.
Since the prime rate has declined after the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate twice this past fall, annual percentage rates on credit cards are declining, too. Now is a good time to look for a new card with a lower rate. It might also be worthwhile to find a card with no annual fee.
"With the Fed decreasing rates, there's no need for you to be paying 10 percent in interest," says Arnold. "You're doing yourself a disservice."