When you have credit card debt, it can consume your every thought causing you to lose sleep. And if you happen to get behind on your payments, the stress can seem insurmountable! Things my seem hopeless, but they don't have to be. Check out these 5 tricks for how to take control of credit card debt.
Stop Charging
Doesn’t matter what you think you need to pay with your credit cards. Cut the cards up or do something else that prevents you from using them (like freezing them into a bag of water so you have to take time to think about a purchase before using them!). You must stop charging to your credit cards if you hope to take control.
Request a Lower Interest Rate
If you’ve been good about making payments on time, contact your credit card companies and request a lower interest rate. You may need to talk to a manager before you can get the interest rate where you want it, but it’s worth the persistence. Keep at it until the rate is reduced by at least 3-percent.
Create a Payoff Plan
There are different payoff plans. Some people tackle the highest interest debt first while others choose to tackle the smallest debts first. There are many free apps out there that will help you determine which will work best for you.
Do what works best for you. If you think that you'll be even more motivated to pay off debt by getting some small wins, pay off the smallest debts first. You'll be so excited when you start to pay off some of your credit cards that you might even be willing to cut your budget even further.
Pay as Much as You Can
You want to pay as much as you can. Sit down and create a budget. See how much money you can put toward the debt. The more you put toward it, the better. Yes, it will be hard while you’re paying it off, but once it’s done you’ll have so much more money to spend without any debt payments.
Make Sacrifices Until It’s Paid Off
Chances are you’ve been living above your means for quite a while. Now is the time you pay for that time. You must make sacrifices so that you have more money to pay on debt. Give up your guilty pleasures, cancel that overprice satellite service – cut expenses to take control of credit card debt.
Does it take time to get out of debt? Yes. Is it hard to do? Yes. It can be a struggle to send as much money as you can to debt. The problem is if you don’t take control now it will only get worse. Stop using your credit cards, get a lower interest rate, and create a payoff plan. You then want to put as much money as you can toward the debt and make sacrifices until it’s paid off.
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