6 tricks to juggle multiple credit card balances

Carrying a balance on multiple credit cards can be challenging if, regardless of your repayment efforts, you don’t seem to make any progress.

A survey conducted by CreditCards.com in January found that 51% of U.S. adults who have credit card debt added to that debt during the pandemic.

The impact of rolling card balances can be even larger when those balances travel in packs. According to Experian’s 2020 State of Credit report, Americans have on average four credit cards.

Here are six tricks to successfully managing rolling card balances on more than one account until they disappear:

1. Draft a payoff plan

You have to look at the damage before deciding how to fix it.

Think of this as triage:

• First, take a piece of paper or spreadsheet and add a line for each card balance.
• For each card you can’t pay in full this month, add the balance, the interest rate and the total credit line for that card (so you know how much of your credit you’re using).
• Include the balance transfer rate and balance transfer fee (if there is one).

No matter how you slice it, paying off the card with the highest APR first will save you the most money. So that’s where you want to steer the bulk of your payoff funds. Our payoff calculator can help you strategize.

2. Watch your credit utilization

Drafting a successful payoff plan is more than just throwing money at bills, especially if you want to safeguard your credit as you annihilate those balances.

Generally, credit utilization ratios – how much of your available credit line you’re using compared to your total credit line on the card – above 30% can start to have a negative impact on your score.

And “at 45 to 50%, your score is tanking,” says Russell Graves, executive director of the National Foundation for Debt Management and board member of the Financial Counseling Association of America.

Further, scoring formulas look at utilization ratios for each individual card as well as all your cards together. And utilization is the second most important credit scoring factor, comprising 30% of your credit score.

Graves’ solution: Draft a payoff plan that looks at which accounts have the highest utilization ratios, and throw the most money at those to lower those ratios as quickly as possible.

3. Pay more than the minimum

However you split your payoff funds as you’re demolishing multiple balances, it’s smart to pay more than the minimum to every creditor every month.

• Scoring formulas (and your card issuers) view those minimum payments as a sign of financial stress. Remember: Your goal is a string of $0 balances – and good credit.
• In addition, paying more than the minimum may potentially save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in interest. Plus, you could pay off your card balances (much) sooner.
• How much time and money could you save? Use CreditCards.com’s payoff calculator to find out.

4. Beware the balance transfer shuffle

If you have a pile of dueling credit card debts, transferring them all onto one card with a 0% introductory APR can seem like a no-brainer.

Not so fast.

Before you open any new balance transfer credit cards, weigh the impact on your credit score.

• Increasing your available credit will lower your aggregate utilization ratio (all of your card balances divided by all of your credit lines), and that’s good for your score.
• But applying for credit often knocks a few points off your score. And, if you load all your balances onto one card, you might be at capacity or near capacity, which could increase the utilization ratio for that card – and lower your score.

Look back at your credit card spreadsheet: Could one of your current cards hold all of your current balances? And if so, what would that cost you in interest and balance transfer fees?

Graves uses this rule of thumb: Payoff period of six months or less? Skip opening a new card and just knuckle down. That’s because often what little you could save in interest won’t be worth the possible score damage caused by opening a new account, he says.

If the payoff period is a year or more, then a new 0% APR card could save some money. If you go that route, do two things:

• Try to find a balance transfer card with no balance transfer fee, which typically runs between 3% and 5% of the amount transferred. “Sometimes the fees exceed what you’re going to save,” says Graves.
• Put your credit cards in the sock drawer until you’ve paid off your current balances. “The debts are not going away,” he says. “You’re just playing credit card shuffle.’”

Pro tip: Harness “found” money.

From tax refunds to annual insurance dividends, “That’s money that can go toward debt,” says Jean Chatzky, author of “Age-Proof: Living Longer without Running Out of Money or Breaking a Hip” and host of the HerMoney podcast.

And don’t overlook accounts such as PayPal and Venmo. “You may have money sitting in there,” she says. There’s also long-lost money. Two places to search for that: MissingMoney.com and Unclaimed.org.

Another source of funds: Leftover gift cards. Sell them and use the proceeds to pay credit card balances, says Chatzky. A few popular sites where you can sell gift cards safely include Gift Card Granny and Raise.

Or use gift cards to pay for necessary items (groceries and bills) and put the cash you would have spent toward card balances.

5. Weigh installment loans vs. credit cards

One alternative to a balance transfer: A personal loan from a credit union or alternative lenders (such as SoFi or Earnest). Rates are often at or below 10%, says Graves.

With an installment loan, you have a fixed number of monthly payments for a specific number of months. Installment loan utilization ratios are calculated differently and have a lower impact on your overall credit score.

This means you can go from having a couple of maxed-out credit cards to having one installment loan that you’re paying on time. And that’s a big win for your credit score.

The downside: With a personal loan, there’s still a credit check and (just like opening a credit card) that can temporarily ding your credit.

You also want to make sure the interest rate is significantly lower than your card APRs. “If you’re not cutting your rates in half, why are you doing it?” says Graves.

And if you move those balances, you still want to leave the credit cards in the sock drawer until you pay off the installment loan. Otherwise, you’d only be adding to your problems by racking up more balances on those freshly paid-off cards.

6. Keep yourself motivated

When you’re juggling multiple card balances, it can seem like a long, slow slog to payoff day. Here are four ways to stay motivated:

• Break that monthly payoff amount into bites. “It’s even helpful if you can come up with a dollar amount per day,” says Chatzky. “I move it out of my checking account and into my savings account [daily],” she admits.
• Get graphic. Remember those outdoor billboards used to track local fundraising goals? Create a similar device to chart your gains, says Chatzky. “Allow yourself to see the progress you’re making – the more visual the better.” And post it somewhere prominent.
• Watch your credit improve. As you pay down those balances every month, watch your credit score climb. “It can be a motivating factor,” says Chatzky.
• Reward yourself. Every time you hit a goal (such as cutting $300 from a card balance), treat yourself to “a small indulgence,” says Chatzky.

When it comes to demolishing multiple card balances, “There’s no magic,” she says. “To keep yourself honest is the key.”