One of the common questions that many of our readers ask is “how do I eliminate debt?” There are many ways to do this, but it all starts with your decision to follow through with a plan. You have to decide that eliminating debt is important enough to temporarily give up a few liberties.
The biggest step is to stop charging purchases on your credit cards. This may be a difficult transition, especially if you rely on credit cards to meet your monthly expenses. This is very important because it will quickly let you know if you can eliminate debt on your own or if you need to get help.
You can sometimes get out of debt on your own if you can increase your payments on your credit cards while negotiating lower interest rates directly with the credit card issuers. If you can show that you are paying the balances down faster, then they will likely grant you an interest rate reduction to convince you not to transfer the balance to a lower rate card.
Balance transfers are not the magic cure that they once appeared to be. Balance transfer fees have skyrocketed since 2006 and are quickly making balance transfers less attractive. The upfront cost can simply be too high. Also, frequent balance transfers can have an adverse impact on your credit score.
Sometimes a credit counselor can help you understand options for eliminating debt. An Accredited Credit Counselor can help you evaluate your financial situation and discuss options with you. One advantage of credit counseling is that you can get lower interest rates and lower payments if you qualify for a debt management plan. Another advantage is that credit counselors can also show you better options for getting out of debt on your own. They can help you understand the pros and cons of different debt elimination techniques and answer questions that you have about credit impact.
Make up your mind that you are tired of working hard just to get by. Instead, learn to eliminate debt using the means available to you. Once you eliminate your credit card debt, you can then begin focusing on saving for the future and letting your money work for you!
