Paying Your Way Out of Debt

Credit Card Deals

	Interest Rate p.a.	Balance transfer Rate p.a.
ANZ Low Rate	12.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months
Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card - Balance Transfer Offer	20.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 8 months
ANZ Low Rate - Exclusive Offer	12.99% p.a.	2.5% p.a. for 15 months

Many people simply accept debt as a way of life thinking there’s no way it can be paid off. But, numerous people have successfully made their way out of thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt.

You might think you can never pay off your debt, but you’ll never know until you look at the numbers.

Why You Need a Get-Out-of-Debt Plan

You can’t get out of debt without first having a plan. It’s like going on a road trip without having a map.

You’ll know where you want to go, but you won’t have a clue how to get there. Making a get out of debt plan gives you the guidance you need to get out of debt.

A good get-out-of-debt plan has three parts – what you owe, how much you can pay, and the timing of your payments. In the first section ‘What You Owe,’ you should list your creditors and lenders, the balance on your credit cards and loans, the interest rate, and the minimum payment. Add your balances and minimum payment to figure out the total amount you owe and what you spend each month on debt.

In the next section, ‘How Much Can You Pay,’ put the amount you can pay above your minimum payments. For example, if you have $300 left after meeting all your financial obligations (including minimum debt payments), you may decide to spend an extra $200 on debt each month.

The final section of your get-out-of-debt plan should detail your debt repayment plan, listing your debts in the order of repayment. To save money on interest charges, you might decide to pay your debts beginning with the highest interest rate first.

Or, if you want to make quicker progress paying off accounts, you might choose to pay debts starting with the smallest balance.

Ultimately, you should pay off your debts in the order that makes the most sense for you. Whatever method keeps you motivated and on track is the best for you.

Using a Debt Repayment Calculator

As you can tell, a lot of work goes into putting together a debt repayment plan. You can do the work manually, or you can use a Credit Card Repayment Calculator. We offer one free to use here. The calculator lets you enter all your creditor information, payment amount, and payment strategy (e.g. highest interest rate first) and the calculator will generate a payoff schedule for you based on what you’ve entered.

The repayment calculator generates extra information about your repayment strategy like the total amount of interest you’ll pay on each account and the amount of time it takes to completely repay each account. Finally, you can save your repayment plan by downloading to a spreadsheet.

That way, you can continue accessing your debt repayment plan as you make your way out of debt for good.

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Debt Consolidation Deals

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			Interest rate (p.a.)	Balance transfer rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash advance rate (p.a.)
	ANZ Low Rate	Save with a low rate on purchases and balance transfers with a low annual fee and ongoing purchase rate.	12.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months	$58 p.a.	21.49% p.a.
	Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card - Balance Transfer Offer	A low balance transfer offer with a low annual fee.	20.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 8 months	$64 p.a. annual fee for the first year ($129 p.a. thereafter)	20.99% p.a.
	ANZ Low Rate - Exclusive Offer	Save with a low rate on purchases and balance transfers with a low annual fee and ongoing purchase rate.	12.99% p.a.	2.5% p.a. for 15 months	$58 p.a.	21.49% p.a.

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Credit Cards Comparison

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			Interest rate (p.a.)	Balance transfer rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash advance rate (p.a.)
	ANZ Low Rate	A low rate on purchases, balance transfer and a low annual fee.	12.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months	$58 p.a.	21.49% p.a.
	HSBC Credit Card	No annual fee for the life of the credit card. Plus a low balance transfer offer.	17.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 6 months	$0 p.a.	21.99% p.a.
	Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Credit Card	A low interest rate offer on purchases and balance transfers.	0% p.a. for 5 months (reverts to 12.99% p.a.)	5.99% p.a. for 5 months	$78 p.a. ($48 for qualifying customers)	21.24% p.a.
	NAB Premium Card	Long term balance transfer offer with premium benefits such as travel insurance.	19.49% p.a.	1% p.a. for 12 months	$90 p.a.	21.74% p.a.
	ANZ Platinum Credit Card	No annual fee for the first year and a balance transfer offer.	19.39% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months	$0 p.a. annual fee for the first year ($87 p.a. thereafter)	20.99% p.a.

* The credit card offers compared on this page are chosen from a range of credit cards CreditCardFinder.com.au has access to track details from and is not representative of all the products available in the market. Products are displayed in no particular order or ranking. The use of terms 'Best' and 'Top' are not product ratings and are subject to our disclaimer. You should consider seeking independent financial advice and consider your own personal financial circumstances when comparing cards.