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You can eliminate credit card debt with careful planning and patience. Experts recommend many different types of credit card debt elimination plans, so find the one that works for you and stick to it. Some financial counselors recommend paying off the credit card with the highest interest rate first. Others may recommend paying off the credit card with the smallest balance first. How you proceed is up to you, but it is helpful to have short-term and long-term goals in mind before you begin. These goals will help you stay on track and provide motivation when you are feeling bill weary. Obviously, one of the most important things you can do toward credit card debt elimination is eliminate credit card spending. You will never retire the debt if each month you pay $100.00 on your outstanding balance but add $76.14 to the same balance. Coupled with interest rates, continued spending will make credit card debt elimination impossible. A few other words of advice: always pay more than the minimum. Also, always pay your credit card bills in a timely fashion. If you have trouble staying organized, try using an accordion file to store bills, stamps and envelopes. You could also try a bill pay service through your bank. It can be helpful to concentrate the bulk of your bill paying efforts on one bill at a time, but you should still pay at least the minimum on the others. Once each bill is paid redirect the resources to the next bill. You will be able to eliminate credit card debt more quickly if you also eliminate unnecessary ATM visits and cash spending. Living by your budget will help you pool all available cash for your credit card debt elimination plan. Another strategy that can help: consider contacting creditors to ask for a lower interest rate. It is well within their right to say no, but some may say yes. The savings you reap can multiply your credit card debt elimination efforts. Finally, if you choose to close your credit card accounts (and there is no reason you should unless you are absolutely unable to manage your charging responsibly) do not close them until after the bill has been paid. Credit card companies often will penalize you by raising interest rates if you close an account that carries an outstanding balance. |
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