Paying off debt is often difficult, and sometimes requires a little creativity.
SAN ANTONIO — About one-in-four people say they have no emergency savings and would have a hard time covering an unexpected expense. And with a volatile economy and uncertain financial future for many, Experian says taking control of finances should be top of mind.
Christina Roman, a Consumer Education and Advocacy Manager at Experian told us, “Maybe there’s a credit card that offers a 0% interest rate that, you may qualify for that can help you to at least pay for a charge. And then you can chip away again at, whatever it is you did have to pay for. You can create a plan for that.”
At the beginning of the year consumers said their top new year’s resolution was to save more money. Close to a third wanted to create a personal budget. And about 1/4 of those surveyed said they wanted to pay of a credit card, improve their credit score, or pay off a full credit card balance every month.
Now that all of the bills from the holidays have come in, time to figure out how to pay them.
“In this first couple months of the year they’re recalibrating,” said Roman. “They’re figuring out, where they’re where they owe money right now, how they can kind of chip away at any debt that they added over the holidays.”
If you are struggling, Roman says if a credit card doesn’t work, try a personal loan, but avoid using your 401(k) in an emergency if at all possible.
“Maybe that might be a better option than going right at your 401(k) because you really want to give that time to build and that interest to compound, and work in your favor later,” Roman added.
And no matter where you stand financially, experts say you should always keep an eye on your credit score, including using Experian’s credit score tracker.
“It can impact your ability to, rent an apartment. It can impact your ability to get a cell phone. It can impact if you have to pay a deposit for utilities,” said Roman.