Reduce credit card debt: Pay biweekly

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. (2/7/02)--The sooner you get a payment to a credit card company, the less interest you're going to pay. Which is why more interest is saved by getting a payment in days or weeks early (Bankrate.com Jan. 14).
One way to really save on interest is to stop charging on the card and make payments every other week rather than every month. Never decrease the payment amount until the card is paid off. Federal law requires credit card companies to process payments the day they arrive.
For example, take a credit card with a $5,000 balance, a minimum monthly payment of $100, and an annual interest rate of 14%. By always paying $100 a month, you would pay the card off in six years and four months with a total interest cost of around $2,547.
By sending $50 payments biweekly, you would pay off that same card almost 10 months earlier--five years and almost seven months--while saving $339 in interest. If you're managing to pay the minimum payment, consider the biweekly pay-down method. You need to be organized and financially disciplined for it to work.