Do you have high credit card balances after all the holiday shopping you did in November and December and still haven’t made a dent in it yet? First, you might want to plug your information into First Financial’s credit card payoff calculator and see how much you need to put toward those bills each month to get debt free within a few months, or whatever your debt-payoff timeline may be.

1. Open a Low Rate Balance Transfer Card

If the debt you’ve accumulated resides on a credit card with a high interest rate, you may want to explore a lower rate financing offer by transferring your balance to another credit card. This strategy requires a little math and firm commitment to your plan.

Make sure you know exactly how much you’ll be paying in fees when you transfer the balance and how long you have this lower rate financing. You can use one of the debt payoff calculators mentioned above to determine how much you need to pay each month in order to eliminate your debt within that period.

During this payoff time, it’s crucial you not add to your balance, because that will only make your goal more difficult (and expensive) to achieve.

First Financial has a great Visa Platinum Cash Plus Card with a really low rate, no balance transfer fees, no annual fee, plus rewards for purchases!* 

2. Get Your Money Back

If for some reason you never gave out all your gifts, you may want to consider returning some.  In the likely event you already distributed your gifts, take a look at your own haul. You don’t want to insensitively get rid of gifts someone thoughtfully picked out for you, but if you find yourself with things you don’t need or gift cards you don’t plan to use, consider selling them to help pay off your debt. Even exchanging an unwanted item for something you need could help you save money, if you were thinking of buying it anyway. Any way you can cut back on spending in the coming months will help you repay your credit card debt faster.

3. Take Out a Personal Loan

If you’re looking at several months or years of debt repayment, you may be better off consolidating the high-interest credit card debt with a personal loan at a lower interest rate. Again, it’s crucial you not add to the debt during or after you’ve repaid it, because that will drag out your debt issues and cost you more money in interest. It’s not always necessary to consolidate credit card debt, but sometimes that’s the best way to make repayment manageable.

First Financial also has personal loan options available, with fixed payments, plus several other great benefits.**

*APR varies up to 18% for purchases, when you open your account based on your credit worthiness. The APR is 18% APR for balance transfers and cash advances. APRs will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. Subject to credit approval. Rates quoted assume excellent borrower credit history. Your actual APR may vary based on your state of residence, approved loan amount, applicable discounts and your credit history. No Annual Fee. Other fees that apply: Cash advance fee of $10 or 3% of the total cash advance amount—whichever is greater (no maximum), Balance transfer fee of $10 or 3% of the balance—whichever is greater (no maximum), Late Payment Fee of $29, $10 Card Replacement Fee, and Returned Payment Fee of $29. A First Financial membership is required to obtain a Visa® Credit Card and is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Monmouth or Ocean Counties.

**APR = Annual Percentage Rate. Actual rate will vary based on creditworthiness and loan term. Subject to credit approval. Personal Loan repayment terms range from 12 to 60 months, and APRs range from 10.24% APR to 18% APR. Minimum loan amount is $500. Loan payment example: A $2,000 Personal Loan financed at 10.24% APR for 24 months, would have a monthly payment amount of $92.51. A First Financial Federal Credit Union membership is required to obtain a Personal Loan or Line of Credit, and is open to anyone who lives, works, worships, volunteers or attends school in Monmouth or Ocean Counties. A $5 deposit in a base savings account is required for credit union membership prior to opening any other account/loan. 

Article Source: Christine DiGangi for http://blog.credit.com/2015/01/3-ways-to-deal-with-your-holiday-debt-before-it-gets-out-of-control-104906/