First Person: How I Juggled Multiple Credit Cards (Without Losing My Shirt)

My divorce left me with a small child, debts and the urgent need to find a new job. It's no wonder I turned to credit cards for a quick financial infusion. But soon I was using my income to pay credit card minimum payments, then borrowing more to buy food and fuel. At first I managed my multiple credit cards very badly, but with time I developed tools that organized my debts, helped me avoid missing payments and late fees and set me on the path to paying off higher interest creditors first. Here are the multiple credit card management tools that got me out of debt.

Create a Master List

Create a list of all your credit cards, including the following data for each: name of credit card, customer service number, account number, outstanding balance, your monthly payment amount and date, and the APR (interest) on the card, with a note on whether the interest is variable or fixed (more on this below). If you're familiar with creating bookmarks and hyperlinks in a document, I highly recommend having a list of the credit card names at the top of the page with a hyperlink to the items below. This will save you time scrolling. Otherwise, use the find option on your keyboard (Ctrl button + F) and type in the words you wish to locate in the document.

Order Your Cards by Their Interest Rates

Order your list of credit cards in descending order from the highest interest to the lowest. Look toward the bottom of your credit card statement to confirm your interest amount. You may notice that you are paying several interests on different portions of your outstanding balance. For example, Purchases may be different from Cash Advances or Promotional Rates (if you ever used a balance transfer offer). If you see the words VAR or Variable beside your APR, you'll know that your interest rate may fluctuate up or down, although fluctuations down typically occur as you slowly empty your card-not when you're still struggling with multiple credit card management.

Register for Online Account Access

If you haven't already, check your statement for the credit card company's URL. You'll need to have your credit card with you to provide all the information required for registration. Once this is done, I recommend registering to make your payments online. This is safer, quicker and easier than making payments by check. It's also free, which payments by phone are not. Be sure to add your user name and password information to your credit card master list.

Monitor Your Payments

You can register for auto payments with each credit card and avoid having to make the payment in person. However, when money is tight, I prefer to avoid auto payments that drain my bank account without reference to sudden emergencies I might encounter. Therefore, I recommend adding your credit card minimum payment amounts to your home budget planner and making payments to creditors twice or four times a month (depending on when you get paid). Be sure to take into consideration the due date of each credit card payment as you include it in your home budget planner.

Pay Higher Interest Rates First

As your financial situation improves, I recommend increasing your monthly payments to your highest interest cards first. Keep an eye on any balance transfers with expiration dates and move them up or down your credit card master list accordingly. If, on the other hand, you come into possession of a large sum of money (for example from a yearly bonus or the sale of an asset), check which of your credit cards may have attractive balance transfer offers at present. Pay those cards off and then balance transfer your higher interest cards to the ones you've emptied.

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