0% Interest Balance Transfer

When my girlfriend, now wife, was paying off debt she did open a new card with 0% rate and balanced transferred to it. There was a fee, but it was less than keeping the balance on the higher interest rate card. She dug deep and paid off the loan before the teaser rate expired. She cancelled streaming services, cut out unnecessary spending and any additional income went into the debt payoff. She was so gazelle focused that even the $5 birthday money from Grandma went against the balance.

Other than the balance transfer fee, and the slight ding on her credit report for the new card there wasn't any drawback. Eventually her credit score went up and she's over 800 today.

Credit is like any power tool. Wielded responsibly it can make tasks easier, but if applied incorrectly it can have awful consequences.