You may be
surprised to
learn how
easy it can
be to reduce
your credit
card debt.
With the
average
American
household
carrying
$8400 in
credit card
debt a
simple
reduction
plan could
save
thousands of
dollars.
Step 1:
The first
thing you
want to do
to reduce
your credit
card debt is
find out
exactly how
much money
you owe on
your credit
cards. Then
find out how
much you are
paying in
interest
yearly. For
example, if
you a paying
$50 in
finance
charges on
one credit
card each
month and
$40 on
another you
are paying
$1,080 in
finance
charges
alone each
year.
Learning how
much money
you are
paying in
interest is
usually
enough to
motivate
most card
holders to
reduce their
credit card
debt.
Step 2:
Once you
have this
information
you can then
decide
whether to
consolidate
your debt to
your credit
card with
the lowest
interest
rate or get
a new
balance
transfer
credit card
with a low
APR or lower
interest
rate. By
transferring
the balance
to a lower
interest
rate credit
card you can
save
thousands of
dollars in
interest.
Please keep
in mind that
this is only
a temporary
solution. If
you transfer
the combined
balances to
a low
interest
credit card
you must
destroy the
old credit
cards and
close the
accounts so
that you do
not use them
again. This
is very
important.
If you
transfer
your
balances to
a new
low apr
credit card,
then run the
balances up
again on the
old credit
cards you
have
committed
the ultimate
debt sin.
Note: If you
are unable
to qualify
for a
low
interest
rate balance
transfer
credit card
contact each
of your
credit card
issuers and
request an
interest
rate
reduction.
Explain to
them that
you are
having
trouble
paying your
bills and
would like
their
assistance
with finding
a reasonable
solution. If
you are
successful,
simply
transfer
your credit
card debt to
the credit
card with
the lowest
interest
rate. Be
sure to
search for
other
credit card
offers
that may be
available to
you.
After you
have
transferred
your
combined
balances to
a single low
interest
rate credit
card you
will want to
create a
weekly
budget. The
only way to
pay down
your debt is
to pay your
bills on
time, and to
pay more
than the
minimum
amount due.
This can be
easily done
by paying
your credit
card bill
weekly. If
you create a
weekly
budget that
includes all
of your
expenses
such as
rent,
mortgages,
loans, phone
bills, etc.
you will
discover
exactly how
much you can
pay.
Step 3:
Credit card
interest
accrues
daily not
monthly.
Therefore
paying your
bill each
week will
greatly
reduce the
amount of
overall
interest you
will pay.
Since your
balance will
be slightly
smaller each
week, you
will be
charged less
interest on
that smaller
balance than
if you
continued to
make a
single
monthly
payment. You
can figure
out your
weekly
payment by
using your
monthly
minimum. For
example if
your monthly
minimum
payment is
$50 then you
will want to
pay as much
as you can
above $50.
If you
determine
you can pay
$60 then you
simply pay a
fixed $15
each week
even after
the balance
decreases.
You can pay
more if you
are able;
however do
not begin
paying less
when you
notice a
smaller
minimum
payment.
Continue to
pay this
fixed amount
until the
debt is paid
off.
You can
tailor this
weekly
payment
method to
suit your
needs. You
can have
your weekly
checks all
written out
and simply
drop them in
the mail
each week,
or you can
have the
funds
automatically
deducted
from your
checking or
savings
account each
week. Just
think of the
fun and
excitement
you will
have as your
credit card
debt gets
reduced.
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