This week we’re all about interest wins. So today’s question is all about your wins:
Have you ever managed to reduce the interest rate on your credit card or loan?
Maybe you called your issuer and they actually lowered your APR, or you switched to a 0% balance transfer and cut your interest way down. Whatever your story is, we want to hear it!
Tell us: When did you have a win with your credit interest rate? How did you do it? Did it save you money?
Sharing your experience could help someone else score their own win!
I would say my mine is getting started on how interest works. I was completely ignorant, but this week, I have started digging deep and learning about how to keep them low.
The one time I beat my credit card interest was when I paid off my card balance in full before the due date, and it felt so good to open my statement and see the balance with no interest charges at all!
Yes I did, but it was more of an accident than something I planned for.
Six months after I closed on my condo, a parking spot in the building became available for purchase. It wasn’t cheap and I had to pay another set of legal fees which wasn’t great. Refinancing my mortgage so soon wasn’t appealing so I found an online bank that offered a a personal loan at 5.15% for 4 years which I thought was rather reasonable. So between that and emptying my savings, I was able to come up with the funds needed. I figured I could probably pay down the loan over the next 18-24 months and then rebuild my emergency fund. In the mean time, my mortgage lender had given me a personal line of credit. The rate on that wasn’t great but it could cover my expenses for several months if an actual emergency materialized.
On my next paycheck, I start aggressively paying down the loan. A week or two later, I get my first monthly statement and notice that my rate isn’t fixed but pegged to Prime. Ah, well that probably won’t matter much, I though.
Another couple weeks go by and then COVID hits and the BoC cuts rates again and again. Next thing I know, the rate on my my personal loan is competitive with my fixed term mortgage so I switch to making the minimum payments on my loan and instead focus on rebuilding my emergency savings then invest the rest.
It was almost two years before rates started to climb back up to where they started. By that point, the balance shrunk to the point where I could just pay it off without too much trouble, so I did.
@PhilJ1 that’s a great real-world example of adapting when things don’t go exactly as planned. Appreciate you breaking down how this played out in your own finances, that’s exactly the kind of real context that helps others understand how these tools and rates work in practice.
When did you have a win with your credit interest rate?
