Credit Card Roulette

The term “credit card roulette” can have a few meanings.  One is listed in the Urban Dictionary as “A game of chance to decide which person pays for a restaurant meal. Every party contributes a credit/debit card into a hat and the waiter/waitress removes one card at time. The last card removed pays the entire bill.”  That isn’t really an issue that a financial counselor would need to help you with…unless you end up being the chosen payer more often than you can afford. 

The meaning of the credit card roulette that we’ll look at has to do with the management of several cards when there’s not enough money to pay all the bills.  Of course, roulette implies that you’re taking a gamble with your financial well-being, and gambling is only really fun when the possibility of gain outweighs the little you’ll lose in the process.  In most cases, games of credit card roulette are more like the Russian variety, where you could end up far worse off than where you began. Luckily you’re unlikely to actually die…which is an important thing to keep in mind.  Money isn’t everything.

One way to play credit card roulette is to decide which card account gets the payment this month.  That involves factoring in things like current interest rates and what they might become if a payment is missed, late payment fees, and credit line reductions across the board.  Things could go horribly wrong here and cost you far more.

Another way involves utilizing balance transfers to get lower rates on existing balances, and hopefully consolidating your debt into chunks that are easier to manage. It also feels good to pay off a balance, even if you’re really just shifting it.  The main things to keep in mind are that the new card needs to be at a significantly lower interest rate (preferably 0%, at least for a while) and that you’re approved for the full amount of the balance you want to transfer. Otherwise, you’ve just complicated matters by adding another card with its own set of minimum payments and late fees to worry about.  

But when things have gotten to this point, your best option is to contact a financial counselor. They’ll be able to help you make the best decisions for your financial well-being.