subject: Ways To Get Rid Of Credit Card Debt [print this page] I have personally been trying to eliminate my Credit Card Debt for over a year now. I have about $7,000 on a few different credit cards. Not enough for a Debt Settlement Program or Debt Consolidation, but enough to make me uncomfortable with having it. The credit card debt isn't costing me that much money but I know that about $1,000 of it is at a 15% interest rate which gets tacked on every month.
The interest rate of 15% is what keeps me having to worry concerning doing away with my Credit Card Debt. Thus every month 15% of my 1000 balance is $150 being added to the previously existing $1000. That is a great deal of money when you think of it over 5 months. The money is even compounded each month so the next month they would tack 15% on to the original balance. By the fifth month, if I wasn't paying off the balance it would likely grow to $1,749. That $1000 is now costing me way more then I had formerly intended.
The fundamental part of eliminating your credit card debt is to understand that the financial depletion that it causes. Someone with lots of credit card debt has to be aware of the problems that it is bringing them. This can run just inline with someone who is trying to quit smoking. Why would someone quit if they didn't know how bad it was for them? People who smoke typically ardent around people dying from lung cancer. This is a rough comparison but, the same could be said about people who spend lots of money on their credit cards. These people don't know how much damage they could be doing to their financial situation. They might have a better understanding if they were forced to listen to people who were going into bankruptcy. The bottom line is that you have to understand there is a problem before you can fix it.
After an individual knows that they have a trouble with their credit card debt, they have to check out where the credit card debt originated from. When an individual has learned where the debt came from they can take actions to eradicate it. I will make use of a sick person as an illustration again. When someone comes into the hospital and is very ill the initial thing the medical doctors do is try to find out where the most discomfort or more harmful injury is. If the person has something wrong with their heart or lungs, they will most possibly try to fix that first. This is a dramatic example but it strikes the point. Look at your credit cards and check out which card is the most threatening to you.
Although your credit card debt will not kill you, you ought to still look to see which one is impacting you the most. The least difficult way to discover where you're hurting the most is to look for 2 things.
1. Search for the highest balance you have on a card.
2. Try to find what the highest interest rate you have.
This might not exactly be the same card. You could have a card that has a $10,000 balance on it but has a 5% rate. The other card you have might only have a $5,000 balance, yet is at a 15% interest rate. This next card is the card that you want to completely pay down the fastest mainly because it costing you the a great amount of money as a result of the high interest rate.
Totally focus all of your energy on having this card cleared immediately. Refrain spending money on this card and pay it down in as big of chunks as you quite possibly can. Try not to make use of any of your credit cards while you're trying to clear away your credit card debt. If perhaps you certainly have to make use of a card, make use of the one with the lowest interest rate. This is the best option to eliminating your credit card debt.
If you find that you are only able to make the minimums on these cards then you should consider speaking to a debt consolidation representative like michigan debt relief, tennesse debt relief, or virginia debt relief about their debt settlement program. These programs are for people who ask themselves these two questions. 1. How much am I paying out a month in interest? 2. Where will I be in 3 years from now if I continue paying what I am. If you will be in the same place you should consider debt settlement for your credit card debt elimination.
