For the past two years I've been living, for the first time, under the weighty, grey cloud of credit card debt. Foolish use of personal credit cards to fund asset purchases for an LLC have resulted in an uncomfortable amount of recurring, high-interest debt. Recently, upon realizing that I have become comfortable with paying more than $800/month in minimum CC payments, I set out to reduce that number and speed along my debt reduction.
Currently, my plan is to pay $50 above the minimum on all cards except that one which has the highest balance/APR ratio; that card gets any extra income I'm able to throw at it. Once a card is paid off, the amount of its monthly payments gets redirected to the card with the highest balance/APR, thus speeding up the payoff. This will continue until all are paid off.
However, in the interim, I'd like to reduce those APR's. Currently, they stand at 22.99%, 19.99%, 18.99%, and 13.24%. I've contacted all of my CC companies numerous times requesting a rate reduction. Some were kind and offered me temporary, reduced rates. The highest of the bunch however, refuse time and time again.
My question then, is thus: What are the downsides to taking out a no-fee, credit union offered, lower-interest loan to pay off the most damning of my CC's?
Many advance thanks.