Posts Tagged ‘Money Card’
Debt Elimination - 3 Ways To Eliminate And Reduce Credit Card Debt
When you are in over your head with credit card debt, relief can seem miles away. Sometimes it seems like you are working as hard as you can to make the minimum payments or even to just barely cover the interest on your balances.If you want to get out of the cycle of credit card debt follow these 3 easy steps and you will be on your way to financial freedom.
1. Switch to a lower rate card.
If you can switch your balance from a higher rate card to a lower rate card, you can save quite a bit of money. Even a card with a 5% lower interest rate will make a difference on the amount you owe on your monthly credit card statement. Take the money you save and apply it to the balance to reduce your debt even faster.
2. Pay on the principle.
It is very easy to fall into the trap of just paying the minimum payment on your credit card statement, but if you make a practice of this, you will never get out of debt. The only way to eliminate credit card debt is to plunge in and pay it off. The more you pay on the principle the less you will be paying in interest, and you will start to see a difference in the amount of money you are being billed each month.
3. Don’t add to your debt.
Make it a rule that the credit cards are only used for special or emergency purchases. Stop buying things like groceries or clothes using your credit card. Chances are if you are going to put an item on the card, you will often end up buying things you hadn’t planned to buy. These impulse buys may be convenient, but they add up, and you will be paying for them long after their usefulness is gone.
Action Plan: How to power down your debt NOW
It will take you on average between 25 to 30 years to pay off your credit card at the minimal amount. This will not do.
Make a list of all of your credit cards (including all consumer debt such as doctor bills, furniture stores and your home).
List the following in columns: the type of credit card, principle amount, regular payment amount, power down payment, interest rate, total number of payments left on the card, estimated payoff date. Put your list in order of how many payments are left from least to most. If you make a minimum payment of £55month on one of your cards until it is paid off in full, you then have £55month freed up to add to the minimum monthly payment for the next credit card. After you pay off the second card, the amount you were paying on that one can be applied toward the third card. By doing this, you will decrease the number of years required to pay off your credit cards from approximately 30 years to nine years.
Using this strategy, think about the other ways you can free up money. If you spend about £100 at Starbucks each month, think about spending that money toward your credit card payments.
Remember, money is emotional. We spend and make money based on emotional compulsion. Go back and see what you spent money on in the last week and how much you spent. It’s not how much money you make that matters, but how well you manage it that counts.
