A Suze Orman exclusive

Okay, if you have a credit card balance and you are paying a high interest rate, your first job is to get that interest rate down.

To do that you need to know your FICO score. Remember, I explained in my earlier article, "Debt-Defying Moves," that anyone who has a credit card, or any type of loan, also has a FICO score. Your FICO score is a measure of whether you are a good credit risk or not.

If you haven't checked your FICO score in a few months, head on over to myfico.com; it'll cost you $12.95 to get your score from one of the three major credit bureaus (you don't need all three for this exercise).

I don't want to rehash everything about FICO scores, since you can just re-read the other article. But the one key point to remember is that FICO scores are broken down into six ranges. The highest range is scores between 720-850. The next range is 700-719. If your FICO score is above 720 there is absolutely no reason to be paying an interest rate above 10 percent. In fact, in a minute I am going to show you that you can probably transfer your balance to a zero interest rate card. And if you're in that second range of 700-719 you're also a pretty fine credit risk, so you are going to have some nice bargaining power with credit card companies. (And hey, if your FICO score is lower than 700, I want you to review how you can boost your score. Once you get your score up you too will be in great shape to bargain for a better card deal.)

Once you've done all your FICO homework, the next part is simple: call up your credit card issuer and give 'em grief. If you've got a high FICO score, let them know that you know your FICO score makes you one of the best credit risks going, so they need to get your rate down pronto.

But I want you to hold off on that conversation for a little bit. Stick with me for a minute and you will have some really scary bargaining power when you make the call.

Show Zero Interest
The credit card industry is so competitive these days that they are trying to steal business from each other. That's a great opportunity for you. It's impossible not to notice all the ads for credit cards that will charge you zero interest if you transfer your balance to their card. Just cruise around Yahoo! Finance a bit and I bet you'll see ads for credit cards. Or check your mailbox (the real one, not the email one). If you're like most of us, you are getting credit card offers weekly. Or use the credit card finder at Yahoo! Finance to shop for low-rate cards for balance transfers.

With a high FICO score, you can qualify for one of these great deals where your initial interest rate is zero percent for the first six months or a year. While that interest rate is important, you also need to ask a whole lot of questions before you jump at any deal.

• What will the rate be after the introductory period? I hope it's obvious that the zero percent rate is a big tease to get you in the door. So you need to know what the rate will be when the initial period is over.
• What is the interest rate on any new charges I put on this card? Read the fine print, my friends: the zero percent is only on the balance you transfer. All new charges on the card are going to get hit with a higher rate. It shouldn't be over 10 percent.
• What is my grace period? The period between the end of your billing period and when your payment is due is known as the grace period. Get your bill paid during this time and you owe no interest. Now granted, since you are transferring a balance, you are not in a position to immediately pay your entire bill on time. But I want you to still shop for a card that makes sense for when you do finally have the balance paid off. And you want a card with a grace period of at least 21 days or so. Some cards don't offer any grace periods, so you are paying interest the minute you make a charge. That's insanity.
• What's the billing method: average daily balance or two-cycle average daily balance? If you happen to carry a balance, the two-cycle method ends up costing you a lot more in interest charges. You should only get a card that uses the plain old average daily balance method of computing your interest charges.
• How is the Minimum Payment Due calculated? Card companies typically compute this amount at 2 or 2.5 percent of your outstanding balance. But some are as low as 1.5 percent. If you are strapped for cash and want to have lower payments, then a card that uses 1.5 percent makes sense. But be really careful with this. By opting for the lower percentage, you're extending the time it will take to pay off your balance. And that's going to mean you end up paying a lot more in interest charges. It's an expensive tradeoff you should try and avoid, if possible.
• What's the annual fee? A lot of times, cards that offer the low balance transfer rate will try and make some money off of you by charging a stiff annual fee. The whole point of this exercise is to lower your costs, so please don't fall for a card with an annual fee.

Once you find a card that meets all your criteria, go ahead and apply. Just because you got a notice saying you've been "pre-approved," that isn't the same as getting a solid offer. You still need to go through the qualifying process.

When you get word that you're approved, don't sign up just yet. Now is the time to go back to your existing credit card company. Call up customer service and tell them you are going to transfer your account to another card if they don't match the offer. You have a bargaining position that Donald Trump would be proud of. You literally can't lose. If your old card matches the new offer, great, stay put. It's always best to stick with your old card. But if they balk, then it's time to say "You're fired!" and head on over to the new card.