Tips On Fighting Excessive Credit Card Debt

May 4
07:18

2010

Mirsad Hasic

Mirsad Hasic

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Being able to learn different strategies on how to fight excessive credit card debt is one of the best investments you can do.

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You can fight credit card debt and in most cases without the need for some consultant to come in and help you,Tips On Fighting Excessive Credit Card Debt Articles charging you hundreds of dollars to do so. It can be done one your own. Beware of so-called debt consolidations companies that spread your payments to them so thinly that it takes years to pay off one card. These people will charge you and really make matters worse in the long run.You really need to start by taking a good hard look at your income to debt ratio. If your debt exceeds thirty five percent of what you earn, you are in deep trouble, which by now you probably already know. You are going to have to start by tightening the belt, eliminating going out to eat, to the movies, or any other kinds of luxuries for the time being. Then it's time take a really hard look at your credit cards, and what you can do about them.The next step in reducing excessive credit card debt is buy doing the same thing that most of your counseling services, debt reduction programs and consolidations companies are doing, call you credit card companies directly. Don't speak to someone low on the totem pole, you want to talk to the head supervisors. If you want to get interest rates reduced, get rid of the overages and other fees, the first person you talk to is going to transfer you to their supervisor anyway.Wait until you have money in hand before talking to anyone. In a lot of cases, you can negotiate terms with credit card companies over the phone, and if you can make a lump sum payment, they will often take off your overages right there just so you can pay them off. There are also other ways to get excessive credit card debt down as well.Take a good hard look at all your credit cards. Pick the ones that have the lowest debt. Make minimum payments on the other cards you have, and focus most of your money on these smaller debts, paying as much as you can on them to get them paid off. Every time you pay of a credit card, move on to the next one, putting that extra money towards the next card, and the next, until you have paid off your credit card debt. This is going to take time, and unless you had a divorce or some high medical expense that shot your debt up quick, you didn't rack up this debt over night, so don't expect to pay it off overnight.You really need to learn how to manage money properly, and credit management companies can help teach you how to budget your money properly. Just like any other type of service, you really need to shop around in order to get the best services for the least out of pocket expenses. Lastly, after your credit card debt has been taken care of, you need to eliminate all your cards down to one or two at the most. These cards should have the lowest interest rates, little or no annual fees, and have the most features. You need to take the rest and close out all of the accounts, and the ones that remain, take out of your wallet, reducing the risk of buying with credit.