Pay off your credit cards faster with these 4 easy changes | Your Money and Your Mind

Transcriber:

If you have credit card debt, you are far from alone.

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

如果你有信用卡債， 你一點也不孤單。

More than half of Americans are currently carrying around

超過一半的美國人目前 都帶著某種形式的信用卡債。

some form of credit card debt.

And if you're part of that majority

如果你也屬於那多數人，

or just want to put some preventative measures in place,

或者只是想要準備好一些預防措施，

I have four simple changes

我能提供四項簡單的改變，

that can help you work towards becoming debt free.

能協助你朝向無債一身輕邁進。

〔你的錢和你的腦〕 〔溫蒂迪拉羅斯主持〕

[Your Money and Your Mind with Wendy De La Rosa]

Number one: prioritize your payments

第一：付款要排優先順序，

and prioritize them in the right way.

且順序要排對。

假設你有兩張卡，

So let's say you have two cards,

one with a 200 dollar balance

一張的應付帳款是兩百美金，

and the other with a 1,000 dollar balance.

另一張貝是一千美金。

Which one do you pay off first?

你會先把哪一張付清？

Well, if you're like most people,

如果你和大部分人一樣，

when people have debt across multiple credit cards,

當一般人有多張卡的卡債時，

they tend to pay off the one with a lower balance first

他們通常會先把應付帳款 金額較低的那張卡付清，

because it feels like an easy win.

因為感覺比較容易辦到。

It feels good.

感覺很好。我們稱之為 「完成偏見」。

We call this the "completion bias."

When you give in to completion bias,

當你讓步給完成偏見， 會覺得自己更有生產力，

you feel more productive

because you're able to check off quick tasks

因為你能把待辦事項清單中的 簡易任務項目完成並打勾。

from your to-do list.

And you might even get a rush of dopamine while you're doing it.

這麼做甚至可能可以 讓你的多巴胺激增。

But rather than looking at the balance -- 200 dollars versus 1,000 dollars --

但，與其去看應付帳款——

兩百美金 vs. 一千美金——

what you should be looking at is the interest rate instead.

你其實應該改著眼在利率。

If you're busy paying off a credit card with a low interest,

如果你忙著把低利率的信用卡付清，

繼續拖延高利率的信用卡，

while the larger-interest-rate card lingers on and on,

you could be in debt for much, much longer.

你負債的時間可能會更長許多。

You can still work the completion bias to your advantage.

你仍然能把完成偏見 用在對你有利的地方。

Here's a quick tip:

小秘訣如下：把那 一千美金的卡債視為

think of that 1,000 dollar debt

as a series of smaller, achievable tasks.

一連串可達成的較小型任務。

For instance, you could decide to pay 100 dollars towards that credit card balance

比如，

你可以決定每個月支付 應付帳款中的一百美金。

each month.

每支付一百美金，

And each time you pay that 100 dollars,

you're crossing something off your to-do list

就把待辦事項清單上的 一個項目劃掉，

and achieving that completion high.

感受到完成的興奮。

You'll not only get that completion high

你不僅能感受到完成的興奮，

but you'll have something to celebrate.

還會有值得慶祝的成果。

Number two: call your credit card company

第二：打電話給你的信用卡公司，

and ask them to lower your interest rate.

請他們降低你的利率。

Get somebody on the phone.

找人聽電話。

Typically, when you apply for a credit card,

通常，當你申請信用卡時，

it's either when you're young or you lack liquidity.

你可能還很年輕， 或者缺乏流動資產。

And in both instances, your credit score is lower.

不論是哪一種，你的 信用評分都會比較低。

Your credit score is what lenders and banks and credit card companies use

借方、銀行，以及信用卡 公司會用你的信用評分

to determine how much of a risk it would be

來判斷借錢給你的風險有多高。

to lend you money.

Now, the higher the credit score, the lower the risk,

信用評分越高，風險就越低，

and the lower the interest rate.

利率就越低。

Conversely, the lower the credit score, the higher your interest rate,

反之，信用評分越低，利率就越高，

and the more money you'll have to pay in interest in the long run.

長期來看，你要支付的利息就越多。

Over time, with on-time payments, your credit score improves.

隨時間，準備付款 會改善你的信用評分。

But guess what?

但，猜猜如何？有時，信用卡公司

Sometimes credit card companies don't lower your interest rate

不會因此就降低你的利率。

as a result.

But what we do know is that if you call,

但我們知道，如果你打電話去，

oftentimes, credit card companies will loosen up on their interest rates,

通常，信用卡公司 會降低給你的利率，

given your credit score improvement.

因為你的信用評分變高了。

We only have a small sample, but in my research,

我們的樣本很小，

但在我的研究中，

we invited people to come in, call their credit card company

我們會邀請受試者進來，

打電話給他們的信用卡公司，

and make the case for a lower interest rate.

證明可以拿到更低的利率。

Fifty percent of them were successful.

有 50% 的人成功。

This is a simple way of having a fifty-fifty shot

這是個很簡單的方式，有一半的機會

to save yourself thousands of dollars on interest.

幫你在利率上省下數千美金。

Now, while you have them on the phone,

當你打電話過去時，

here's tip number three:

還有第三個密訣： 要求更改你的付款日期。

request a change in your payment date.

The payment due date is usually a random day

付款截止日通常是 信用卡公司隨機設定的日期，

that the credit card companies set

that doesn't align with your cash flow.

和你的現金流並不相符。

Now, I want you to think about when you typically get paid

請你想想你通常何時領薪水，

and what time of the month you usually have the most cash on hand.

一個月當中的什麼時候 手頭的現金通常會最多？

Based on that, pick a payment date that works best for you.

根據這些資訊，選擇 最適合你的付款日。

I've seen that it's easier for people to pay down their debt

當人們的銀行帳戶中有比較多錢時，

when they have more money in their bank account.

會比較容易用現金支付債務。

So if you have credit card debt,

所以，如果你有信用卡債， 選一個在發薪日之後的日子

choose a new payment date that falls after your usual payday.

來當作新的付款日。

如果你通常在十五號領薪水，

So if you typically get paid on the 15th,

the 16th might be a great day.

十六號就是個好選擇。

Here's my last tip.

最後一個密訣。第四：

Number four: fundamentally change how often you pay your credit card.

從根本上改變你支付 信用卡帳款的頻率。

So for example, if you usually pay 100 dollars a month

比如，

如果你通常一個月支付 一百美金的信用卡債，

towards your credit card debt,

there are 12 months in a year,

一年有十二個月，

so in a year, you’ll pay 1,200 dollars.

所以一年你會支付一千兩百美金。

Good for you!

做的好。但如果你決定

But if you decide to spread that 100 dollar a month payment

把每月一百美金的付款攤掉，

into weekly payments of 25 dollars,

變成每週支付二十五美金，

you'll end up paying more in the long run,

長期來看你會支付得更多，

because there are 52 weeks in a year.

因為一年有五十二週。

That means you’ll end up paying 1,300 dollars instead of 1,200 dollars.

那就表示你最後會支付 一千三百而非一千兩百美金。

You will also end up paying less on interest.

同時你支付的利率也會比較少。

It's a natural calendar hack

這是個很自然的日曆 小撇步，你可以善用。

that you can work to your benefit.

And there are even companies that can help you do this automatically.

還有公司可以協助你自動做到這些。

These changes may seem small and subtle,

這些改變或許看起來微乎其微，

but you'll be pleasantly surprised by the huge difference they'll make,

但它們能造成很大的差別， 帶給你愉悅的驚喜，

whether you're overcoming debt

不論你是要克服債務問題， 或只是要試著避免陷入債務。

or just trying to avoid it all together.

I'll see you next episode with some more tips.

我們下集再見，到時 會有更多的密訣。

Your future self will thank you.

未來的你會很感謝你。