 TITLE: Understanding Your Credit Card Balance CONTENT: What Should I Do if My Credit Card Balance Is High?\n---------------------------------------------------\nNow that you know how important a credit utilization ratio is, what should you do if your credit utilization has crept above that 30% marker? Make a plan to pay down your credit card debt as quickly as possible. There are several ways to do this.\n*   **Use the debt avalanche method.** If there are cards you can easily pay off immediately, start there. If not, identify which card has the highest annual percentage rate (APR). After making the minimum payments on all your cards, put any extra money toward paying off that card's balance. As soon as that card is paid off in full, put your extra funds toward the card with the next highest APR, and so on until they are all paid off. Every little amount above the minimum payment you pay will help get you out of debt faster.\n*   **Get a balance transfer card.** Another approach is to transfer some or all of your outstanding balance to a credit card with a lower interest rate. Balance transfer credit cards usually offer a low or 0% APR for a limited time period on balances you transfer from an existing card. Although you'll pay a balance transfer fee (typically between 3% and 5% of the amount transferred), you can still save money if you commit to paying off the balance transferred before the introductory period ends and interest begins to accrue.\n*   **Take out a debt consolidation loan.** If you have a lot of high interest credit cards carrying balances and are having difficulty making a dent in your debt, it may be time to investigate a debt consolidation loan. This is a personal loan you can use to pay off credit card debt. When assessing if a debt consolidation loan is right for you, be sure to consider the loan's interest rate, the total lifetime cost of the loan, and any penalties or fees involved. By replacing several credit card payments with one monthly payment at a lower interest rate, debt consolidation loans can help you simplify your financial life and tackle credit card debt. END