subject: How To Lower Credit Card Debt Without Paying Anything Extra [print this page] Credit card debt can be cripplingCredit card debt can be crippling. Once you find yourself in debt, it can seem almost impossible to get out. Debt adds up quickly and easily, especially in these harsh economic times. You may find that you use your credit card to purchase everyday necessities such as groceries and medicine because there is nowhere else to pull the money from. Unfortunately, these practices and the tricky payoff plan that companies subscribe to can leave you buried in debt without an obvious way out.
If you are overwhelmed with credit card debt, it may seem like there is no way to get your balances paid down. You continue to pay your minimum monthly payment but the numbers just do not seem to budge. You might be able to make some headway if you doubled up on your payments, but you just can not afford to do that. So, what can you do? The truth is that there are several things that you can do to lower your debt without paying anything extra. The following tips will help you do just that:
* Always pay on time. Pay your credit card bills before you pay your other bills. Here is why: credit card companies charge exorbitant late fees that they tack on to your balance. Once you are late, credit card companies can also increase your interest rate.
* Stop using your credit cards. Cut them up; freeze them in a block of ice in the freezer. Do anything it takes to get them out of your wallet. If you do not have the money and you need groceries and/or medicine, there are other ways that you can obtain these things. Turning to your credit card to pay for things that you can not afford is the easy way to do things. You need to learn new alternatives.
* Call your credit card companies and ask them to lower your interest rate. A lower rate will lower your monthly payment and the overall amount that you will have to pay to completely pay off your credit card debt.
* Transfer your high-interest balances to low interest credit cards wherever possible. Remember, interest is what makes it so difficult to pay off your debt, so do all you can to lower your interest rate.
* Combine balances on your credit cards to minimize the payments that you have to make each month.
After you do all of these things, you will find that your minimum payments are much less than what they were previously. It may be tempting to lower the amount that you pay each month and take advantage of a much-needed break, but you can not. Continue to pay the same amount on your credit card debt each month so that you can get it paid off quicker.
If you have any extra money, you should put this toward your credit card debt before you opt to pay off any other type of debt. The interest rates on credit cards are much higher than those associated with other types of debt. Do everything that you can to pay off your credit card debt and eliminate those high-interest charges. Once you get started, you will find that it is not impossible to lower your credit card debt.
