… INTEREST
Read below if you’re interested (pun intended) in Credit-Adulting in 4 easy steps.
1. Stop throwing away so much money! Start with your credit cards. The average household carries approximately $15,000 in credit-card debt, generating about $2,600 in interest charges per year at an average APR of 16.7%. [Mathematical?] $13,000 in interest over 5 years. You don’t get that money back folks! Read more about average household debt here. http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/05/08/the-average-american-household-owes-90336-how-do-y.aspx
2. Improve your credit score so you can get a better interest rate. Start tracking your credit score at creditkarma.com. Credit Karma is free and very user friendly – I love it! (By the way, Credit Karma does not pay me for saying any of this.) Once you get a good idea about what your score is and why, you can take the necessary steps to improve it.
3. Now that you’ve optimized your credit score: refinance your mortgage, car, and other loans so you can pay them off quicker. Find out how much you can reduce your monetary waste by using this simple calculator. (This calculator works for any type of loan – not just mortgage) https://www.zillow.com/mortgage-calculator/refinance-calculator/
4. Schedule the Debt Payoff. Using this snazzy little free app called Debt Payoff Planner and Calculator. (Again, I am not being paid by the Debt Payoff Planner and Calculator folks for this reference – I use it myself and its awesome.) Once you’ve figured out how long its going to take a pay everything off, and set that plan in motion, you can move to the next step to planning for the future.
