Pay Down Those Credit Cards, Before Rates Rise Further<br />Buying wine in bulk means “you get a lot of strange looks,” she said, but helps keep a lid on “budget bleed.”<br />Here are some questions and answers about paying off credit card debt:<br />Should I pay down the cards with the highest interest rate, or the highest balance, first<br />Julie Ford, a fee-only financial planner in New York City who works with clients in their 20s<br />and 30s, said young adults in big cities could get carried away with lifestyle spending and lose track of their budgets amid social pressure to keep up.<br />Revolving credit — mostly credit card debt — reached a record $1.023 trillion in November, the Federal Reserve reported this week.<br />Now that the holiday spending party is over and credit card statements are landing in mailboxes,<br />consumers would be wise to start whittling their balances, financial advisers and analysts say.<br />January is a good time for consumers to peruse their credit card statements and consider what’s really necessary, Ms. Ford said.
