subject: Get-Out-Of-Credit-Card-Debt Information - 5 Useful Insights [print this page] Get-Out-Of-Credit-Card-Debt Information - 5 Useful Insights
Many people have been blessed with the chance to lead pretty fortunate lives, more or less getting the things they have wanted - usually after a lot of hard work. Others find themselves having had to fight tooth and nail each step of the way - and sometimes they are still not sure how much progress they are really making.
Regardless of how well your life may or may not be going as of late, there is one dark shadow that looms over millions of people each day: that of insurmountable credit card debt.
Carrying excessive credit card debt can feel like a ball and chain around your leg. It follows you wherever you go, affecting not only your financial decisions, but even occupying your thoughts in the back of your mind at other times.
If you are looking for get-out-of-credit-card-debt information, here are 5 useful insights that can help:
1. Credit card debt is a vicious cycle - the more you have the harder it is to pay it down:
As you have probably already experienced, credit card debt is a cycle that can be hard to break out of. The more you have, the more you are required to make in monthly payments each month. This, in turn, can cause you to be short on cash, which makes you borrow more against your card.
2. One way out is through debt consolidation:
If you have a particularly large amount of credit card debt across multiple cards, you may have received one or more phone calls from debt consolidation vendors. For a fee, these vendors may offer to extend you a loan, the money from which they invite you to use to pay off most or all of your outstanding credit card debt.
While there are many legitimate programs out there like this, many are shams, as well. If you choose to go this route, proceed with caution.
3. Another way out is through careful planning and self-management:
The most practical and simple way out of credit card debt is through the practice of self-discipline and careful planning. For example, you can set up a spreadsheet or use pen and paper to record the outstanding balance on each card and then to project how much you can pay down on each card monthly. Remember to start with your high-interest debt first.
4. Make debt-reduction your number one focus:
No matter which path out of debt you choose to take, make sure that reducing your debt remains your main focus. It is only with this kind of single-minded concentration that you can have the chance to pull yourself out of debt.
5. Work on improving your credit score:
A "back door" method to working on your debt that many people tend to overlook is that of working to improve your credit score. There are things you can do to steadily and significantly improve your FICO score. As you do, you will find that you can qualify for lower-interest credit cards and then transfer your high-interest debt to those cards in order to reduce your payments.
Consider these 5 insights as you look for get-out-of-credit-card-debt information.
