{"id":18576,"date":"2019-07-09T16:23:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T20:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.eztaxreturn.com\/?p=18576"},"modified":"2023-06-06T09:27:15","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T14:27:15","slug":"which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Debts Should You Pay Off First?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everyone\u2019s always preaching about the importance of having good credit.\u00a0 It makes it easier to get approved for a new loan, you\u2019ll receive the lowest interest rates, higher credit limits and better car insurance rates. Although the average <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/f\/ficoscore.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"FICO score (opens in a new tab)\">FICO score<\/a> is 704 there are people who fall way below that. The good news is you can quickly raise your credit score by prioritizing certain bills over others. Keep reading to find out which debts you should pay off first.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Any credit accounts you can pay on time<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nothing impresses creditors more than paying your bills on time.\u00a0 Out of all the things that can affect your credit score, payment history carries the most weight.\u00a0 It\u2019s responsible for thirty-five percent of your score.\u00a0 The bills creditors care about most are your credit cards, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mortgage_loan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"mortgage (opens in a new tab)\">mortgage<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Student_loan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"student loans (opens in a new tab)\">student loans<\/a>, car loans and personal loans.\u00a0 So, keep them in good standing.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Credit cards that are maxed out or almost there<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Word to the wise, just because you\u2019re given a $5,000 credit limit doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a good idea to use it all.\u00a0 The second most important factor in determining your FICO score is your credit utilization.\u00a0 Creditors are interested in seeing how much of your limit you actually use.\u00a0 Exceeding 30% of your available credit can have a negative impact on your FICO score.\u00a0 An easy way to keep things under control is to track your spending throughout the month.\u00a0 This will allow you to see when it\u2019s time to start reeling it in.\u00a0 You can also set up balance alerts, so you\u2019re notified when you\u2019re approaching your limit.\u00a0 Other helpful tips include asking for a higher credit limit or making multiple payments throughout the month.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>High-interest credit cards<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting out of credit card debt is difficult because companies tack on interest if you don\u2019t pay your total balance by the due date.\u00a0 According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdwallet.com\/blog\/average-credit-card-debt-household\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Nerd Wallet (opens in a new tab)\">Nerd Wallet<\/a>, people with revolving credit card debt paid $1,141 in interest alone last year.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a big surprise considering the average card APR stands at 17.76 percent.\u00a0 Carrying a balance on a high-interest credit card costs more money.\u00a0 Therefore, paying them first can help you save some green and get out of debt faster.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">File your taxes fast and ez.\u00a0 Biggest possible refund, guaranteed.<\/h2>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone\u2019s always preaching about the importance of having good credit.\u00a0 It makes it easier to get approved for a new loan, you\u2019ll receive the lowest interest rates, higher credit limits and better car insurance rates. Although the average FICO score is 704 there are people who fall way below that. The good news is you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-finance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.13 (Yoast SEO v20.13) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Which Debts Should You Pay Off First?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Looking to get out of debt and raise your credit score? Find out which debts you should pay off first to reach your goal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Which Debts Should You Pay Off First?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Looking to get out of debt and raise your credit score? Find out which debts you should pay off first to reach your goal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ezTaxReturn.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ezTaxReturn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-09T20:23:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T14:27:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/iStock_000036045928_XXXLarge.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ezTaxReturn Expert Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ezTaxReturn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ezTaxReturn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ezTaxReturn Expert Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ezTaxReturn Expert Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/53293fc1f8f3940b232359e95b10360b\"},\"headline\":\"Which Debts Should You Pay Off First?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-09T20:23:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T14:27:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/\"},\"wordCount\":394,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Personal Finance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/which-debts-should-i-pay-off-first\/\",\"name\":\"Which Debts Should You Pay Off First?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-09T20:23:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T14:27:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Looking to get out of debt and raise your credit score? 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