Your goal should be to pay off your credit card bills in full at the end of each month and set aside money toward your emergency savings.
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If you are worried about job security and do not have an adequate emergency fund (ideally eight months' worth of living expenses stashed away in a federally insured bank or credit union), you need to focus more on saving money than paying down the balance on your credit cards.
I get so frustrated when people tell me it's unrealistic to create an eight-month emergency savings fund, or have money saved for a home down payment, or pay off their $5,000 credit card balance.
I have always advocated doing everything possible to pay off credit card balances; it's good financial management and the ticket to a strong FICO credit score.
I very rarely use a credit card, but I do if I know I have big bills coming and I need to stagger payment.
If you wait to see how much money you have left at the end of the month to put toward savings, the answer may be zero. So, set up an automated monthly transfer from your checking to savings account. Once you lock into that commitment, you'll be forced to scale back spending to make ends meet.
To bring down your credit card balances, write down the benefits of reducing your debt. No more gnawing feeling that you're throwing money away, perhaps. More money flowing to other financial objectives. Then consult the list when you have doubts.
Make this the year you tackle that credit card debt once and for all.
If you pay your credit card off every month, get a rewards card. One that gives you airline miles or that will give you 1 percent cash back at least on every purchase.
If the only way you can build an emergency fund is to pay the minimum due on your credit card, that is what you need to do.
Those carrying a credit card balance should scale back to making the minimum payment each month so they have more money to put into savings.