How to pay off debt with a credit card

We get it. Debt can be a real bummer. Especially if your monthly payments don't seem to be making a dent in it. High interest rates could be to blame if your progress feels too slow. There could be a better way. A balanced transfer credit card allows you to move your debt from cards with high interest rates to one with a 0% introductory interest rate. Here's how it works. Let's say you have $10,000 in credit card debt with an interest rate of 15.99%. Your monthly minimum would be around $232. Even if you paid twice that each month, it would take over two years to pay off your debt. And here's the kicker. You will have paid almost $2,000 in interest. But if you transferred that debt to a card with 0% interest for 15 months and kept paying twice your minimum payment, you'd shake off debt in 22 months, only paying about $162 in total interest. That's a savings of around $1,700. Balanced transfer credit cards can help you buy time to chip away at your debt without racking up interest. Think a balanced transfer card sounds right for you? Here are a few rules to consider. Generally, you need to have good to excellent credit. If your credit is on the lower side, you might want to look into a personal loan instead. Balanced transfer cards are great for people with a score of 690 and above. The fee to transfer your balance is usually 3 to 5%. That might not sound like much, but it's worth doing the math. Let's say you transfer that $10,000 balance to a card with a 0% introductory interest rate and a 3% transfer fee. Your $1,700 savings is actually more like $1,400 once you pay the $300 fee. Also, there are no same-issuer transfers, which means your balanced transfer card will have to come from a different credit card company than the one that's currently holding your debt. Your transfer limit may not be high enough for your entire balance. Unfortunately, there's no way to know until after you apply. The good news is that there is no retroactive interest. That means that if you aren't able to pay off all your debt within the 0% introductory interest rate period, you won't be penalized. Your debt will never increase if you make on-time payments. Will a balanced transfer card hurt your credit? The short answer is no. But if you miss a payment, you'll immediately start paying interest. Your interest rates may be higher, and your credit score could take a hit. So just make sure you always pay on time. Shaking off debt takes work, but it can be done, once you have a plan that works for you. To see if you qualify for a balanced transfer credit card, visit nerdwallet.com.