Five emergency money moves that could save you thousands

August 15, 2026 — 5:01am

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Everyone knows that person right now – the one who is struggling with their finances. Maybe they have told you. Or more likely, you can see it on their face or feel it in their interactions.

Perhaps, it’s even you.

Well, there are five little-known money repair moves that can give you breathing space – and then simpler-than-you-think strategies to get clear and comfortable.

Repair move 1: Park your credit card debt. At a typical 18 per cent interest rate or more, even if you never spend another cent, this liability could be spiralling out of control.

But know that there are other credit cards to which you can transfer your existing card balance and pay no interest on it. These are for new customers only, and the idea is to lure your business across. However, used cleverly, you can think of them as get-out-of-debt-jail-free cards.

You can currently get up to 25 months at 0 per cent on a transferred credit card balance, which gives you a 25-month window of opportunity to clear it – divide your balance by the number of months and see if you can repay that amount.

These are simple solutions that will make a huge difference to your future.

If you can’t manage that, though, such a card will at least cap your debt at its current level.

The traps to these – of course there is some nasty fine print – are that any new spending........

© The Sydney Morning Herald