10 Ways To Lower Your Credit Card Debt

The Average American family has more than eight-thousand dollar in credit card debt. But that certainly doesn’t stop them from swiping their cards and increasing their debt each and every day. In this article we are going to talk about way to reduce and avoid the usurious APRs and ridiculous fees that come with owning credit cards. And since Americans own over 1.5 billion of them, we will assume, for the purposes of our discussion, that you are one of them.

So, what can you do to lower your debt? Listed below are a few easy steps.

1. As painful as it may be, you must start by calculating your total debt. Since all of your payment plans and schedules will be based on the result, this is the most important step.

2. If you have more than one card, cut up or lock up the card or cards with the highest interest rates. The easiest way to control your debt is to only use the cards with the lowest rates and to only use them in an emergency.

3. Once you have determined which cards have the highest rates, you should contact the respective credit card companies and ask them to lower your rates. Believe it or not, ordinary phone representatives often have the authority to lower your rates by a few points, which could mean hundreds of dollars of savings over the course of a year.

4. If the credit card company refuses to lower your rates, threaten to cancel the card and tell them to send you a final bill. This will let them know that you mean business.

5. Take advantage of any special offers, such as balance transfers that will allow you to obtain a lower overall APR.

6. Next, compose a second list that includes the balances of each card, listed from highest to lowest, of course.

7. The third and final list should include the credit limits of each card divided by the total balance. This will give you the debt-to-limit percentage.

8. At this point, you should examine each list and determine your most immediate goal. Do you want to get rid of your debt, close credit card accounts or improve your credit?

9. If you want to improve your credit score, you simply need to make the minimum payments. But this will not get you out of debt. That’s the dirty little secret. These payments are designed to keep you in dept forever.

10. Pay off the credit cards with the highest interest rates first! Really, it’s not brain surgery. These are the folk who are charging and overcharging you the most and you need to pay off these debts as expeditiously as possible and bid them a fond farewell.