My Credit Card Debt is now at Record Levels
I never thought I would carry over $45,000 in credit card debt. That amount represents about a years worth of living expenses for our household.
Even when I was at my personal finance low 2 years ago with over $14,000 in hard earned credit card debt, I never thought I would let my debt get to such levels.
The difference is that this $45,000 is now earning me about $180/month in pre-tax interest. After standing on the sidelines waiting for a good opportunity, Bank of America was very kind to me in July and sent me a 0% balance transfer offer. I quickly turned this offer into a $19,500 balance transfer.
That balance transfer wet my appetite for other convenient balance transfer offers. After reading a couple of other blogs I found a way for me to do this without applying for a large number of new credit cards:
- I first asked to have my credit limit increased on my other old BoA credit cards.
- I then had the credit limits from these two cards transfered over to the credit card with the 0% balance transfer offer.
- I then used this increased line of credit on my 0% BoA card and transfered this to my online savings account.
I now have just over $45,000 in credit card debt earing me cash for the next year. I think this is as far as I am willing to go unless another great offer falls in my lap. So far this has been a low effort, high reward way for me to earn a couple extra dollars each month.
