#refinancing -refinance

Secondly, I have a question about balance transfer credit cards. I'm in a place where I'm paying off my highest card consistently, but the interest is still killing me. Not only that, but my balance is around 60% of my limit, which is hurting my credit score. I understand that most transfer cards charge 3-5% per transfer, but if I could pay the transfer off in the given ~18 months of 0% APR (which I believe I could), it could help me significantly, even given the 3-5% hit.

Although you've instilled a lot of confidence in me, I'm not confident enough in this decision to pull the trigger without further advice. I'm always leery of opening a new card. I would greatly appreciate any wisdom you have to offer!

Thank you so much for all you do!

Hi honey! Thank you for your kind words.

And if you don't have the confidence to pull the trigger without checking in... you have our permission to do a balance transfer. The temporary 0% APR of a balance transfer credit card can give you a huge headstart on paying back the principle without drowning in interest like you are now. Even with a 3-5% transfer fee, the math will likely work out in your favor.

Here's more info on how consolidations, refinancing, and balance transfers work:

When (And How) To Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans 

Interest rates had been falling for most of the past three decades – but two years ago, they started climbing. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note recently climbed above 3%, up from less 1.5% just a couple of years ago.

Among the reasons that rising rates matter is that they have numerous effects on the housing market. Some of these effects are obvious. As interest rates climb, so will mortgage rates, making houses relatively less affordable. Refinancing also becomes less attractive.

I just got off the phone with a mortgage rep to discuss refinancing our house. 

We want to lower our monthly payments as part of the experiment in frugality we launched while I’m testing the waters of self-employment.

I was dreading this experience because after the first two times I called, no one followed up with me. In the past I would have abandoned the whole enterprise out of fear, or verbally abused someone over the phone out of anger. But now, I knew the best approach was to be firm yet polite and tell them my needs weren't being met. I started to explain that today, but I somehow got a new guy on the phone who took care of everything right away.

It was still scary because I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to real estate and financial stuff like that, and I hate not knowing what I'm doing and looking incompetent. But I was honest about what I didn't know and was able to follow along pretty well with most everything he explained. The upshot: we’ve started the process of reducing our payments by over $100 a month!

Jesus Christ, being an adult is hard.

When you drink and drug and binge-eat and starve for over 15 years, all of the emotional and social growth you should be experiencing during that time simply just stops. Your body keeps growing, and you keep walking and talking and moving through the world, but parts of your brain, and your heart for that matter, freeze in place.

When you stop drinking and drugging and binge-eating and starving, the reckoning begins. Your body may be chronologically older, but in many ways, your brain is not. You find yourself at parties, in meetings, on the phone—feeling baffled, drawing a blank, asking yourself, What would an adult do here?

You learn by watching, and seeking out the guidance of your wiser friends. Your brain forms new pathways. Your heart starts to thaw. It’s like when your leg starts to regain feeling after falling asleep; as the nerves wake up, it is so painful that even the lightest touch makes you wince. But you stand up and hobble, and the pain subsides with each halting step.

Hi kitten! We wrote this specifically about student loan debt, but the advice works for credit cards too:

When (And How) To Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans 

Also, this should be informative about the whole "having too many cards" issue:

Dafuq Is Credit and How Do You Bend It to Your Will?