Page 32 - Winning The Credit Game Bundle (CK Patrick)

20 THE CREDIT GAME

through your files and look up that information right now. Here’s a
little worksheet you can fill out so we can keep track:

Credit Line 1: __________________________________________
Interest rate: ______% Amount owed: ________________________
Credit Line 2: __________________________________________
Interest rate: ______% Amount owed: ________________________
Credit Line 3: __________________________________________
Interest rate: ______% Amount owed: ________________________
Credit Line 4: __________________________________________
Interest rate: ______% Amount owed: ________________________
Credit Line 5: __________________________________________
Interest rate: ______% Amount owed: ________________________
Credit Line 6: __________________________________________
Interest rate: ______% Amount owed: ________________________
Now, here’s a bit of simple math: the higher the interest rate on any
given credit line, the more money that loan is costing you for every
single month there remains a balance. This is very significant, espe-
cially since paying that interest over time might be stopping you from
paying other bills, which might in turn be causing you more interest
and late fees.
This is what I refer to as “the interest snowball.” When you are
paying more than necessary in interest, this cost can end up multi-
plying and costing you way more than you realize in interest payments
and late fees over time.
In order to get your interest payments down, we’re going to priori-
tize paying off your highest-interest lines of credit first. The moment
those lines of credit are fully paid, poof—your interest payments
disappear!
Now, you don’t want to stop paying other bills entirely in order to
pay off a high-interest line of credit. But you might consider going
down to the minimum payment you can make without being punished
with late fees or interest rate hikes on other lines of credit in order to