Eliminate Credit Card Debt
If you are serious about taking charge of your finances and creating a long term plan which could even include investing money to make more of it, then finding out how to eliminate credit card debt is a great place to start.
Let’s get right to it. The first thing you should do is a make a list of all the credit cards you have and who the lender is. Write down how much you owe on each including any overdue payments, add up the grand total and write it in big bold print. Now against each card write down the interest rate you are paying. If you don’t know this and you think it will be a drag to get out your statements and read them then you might as well take your cards and go shopping.
To eliminate credit card debt takes determination, initiative and will power. Anyone who can’t be bothered with the ‘fine print’ isn’t ready. I hope you’re still reading so you can get on your way to financial freedom.
Now list your credit cards in order from one to ten or however many you have starting with the card that has the highest interest. This is the card you will eliminate first! When we say eliminate credit card debt it’s easy to imagine a statement that says balance owing nil, available balance $5000, doesn’t that sound fantastic. The problem is that if the card itself isn’t eliminated then you might never see a zero balance.
How To Eliminate Your Credit Card
If you can’t bring yourself to go and get a pair of scissors and cut up your card I hate to say it but you will probably never be financially free. Being that attached to or dependant upon your credit cards is a big red flag. If you absolutely believe you cannot possibly risk cutting up your card then you might need to give it to someone you can trust to keep you away from it unless there is an absolute emergency. I do believe though that if you did face an emergency without a credit card you would be extra resourceful and find a way through it.
So you now need to look for ways to cut back spending so you can add extra payments to your credit card debt with the highest interest. If you can skip one take out meal a week or a few cake and coffee spends a month you can add that money to your credit card and make amazing progress. The impact of extra payments really is enormous, saving you mountains of money in interest and seeing your debts paid off much sooner.
Continue this process in order of highest interest card through to lowest until they are all paid off. If you have a large amount of debt you might consider consolidating all your credit card debts into one new loan at a lesser interest rate. If you can maintain the same amount of payment dollars as if you hadn’t done that you will get rid of the new loan more quickly.
If you want to eliminate credit card debt then your number one priority is to not add anymore to those debts, they must only get lower, not increase and not fluctuate. Get rid of the most expensive ones first and you are well on your way to a better financial future.