Advice on How to Cut Credit Card Debt

When looking at statistics found on theage.com.au, it is stated that Australians owe $41 billion on credit cards at the end of July 2007.  That’s a fair bit of dollars to be owed.  Just for a rough approximation, the population of Australia a year after that was 20,600,856. Doing the math, we can see that each individual owed $1990 in debt.

Now, let’s subtract the fact that children don’t have debt and we can imagine that there is quite a bit of money owed by the Australian people to credit card companies.

Simply put, with work and all of these other things getting in the way, trying to keep your eyes on the debt you have can get difficult. Here’s the issue.

Because of how easy it is to forget that you have debt, you need to drill into your mind that you need to payback what you borrow. With so many other things to do such as go to a football game or something else, you really need to ensure that you do everything in your power to keep on track.  Here are a few steps if you are really in debt and want to get out of it.  Follow them and remember that they want their money just as bad as you want to give it to them. So, they do work.

First and foremost, call your creditor and explain to them the situation. Explain that you want to pay them back and all of that.  Ask for a lower interest rate or some sort of a plan that would get you on track to paying them back. What you’re hoping to do is show them (in a very courteous way) that you are in need of some help. They want their money so they will do what they can to help you.

When you call, be courteous, but know what you want. Be firm, but not hostile.  When talking to them, let them know that you want this help. If you keep in your mind that you will get it, you will believe it and it will make you more believable when pleading your case.

If you’re game enough, get rid of your credit cards. Get rid of them any way you can.  Cut em up, shred em, burn em, do whatever you can to get rid of them. The biggest problem people have is they continue to use the card rather than try and pay it back. Stop!  People have a tendency to spend money that is not theirs. You can’t do that or you’re just going to get back into more debt.  Just drop the cards and call it a day.  Cold turkey really can work.

Start paying the credit card that has the highest interest. In essence, you want to get rid of the one that is going to hook you the longest. Furthermore, pay more than what they suggest. If they say the minimum payment is $15.00, pay $50.00.  You want to get out of debt as fast as you can. They are in business to make money and they want your interest as their profit. The faster you are out of debt, the faster you can go on to other things.

One of the best ways to really get rid of your debt is to transfer from your high interest credit card to a low interest credit card. In essence, what you’re hoping to do is go from paying a lot of interest to a little interest.  Granted, you’ve still got everything to pay, but at least this way, you don’t have as much interest. The good thing about this is you are going to be able to pay more money to the balance rather than just the interest that has accrued. The more of the balance that you pay that is not interest, the faster you can pay it all off.

All in all, ensure that you keep your head up and remember that people all around the world are cutting their interest at fantastic rates. So long as you are courteous when you call the creditor and you are smart about what you buy, you’ll be able to get rid of the debt in no time. And hopefully, you won’t make the same mistake twice.

Related posts:

1. New Year Debt Consolidation Advice
2. Debt Consolidation Advice – Information and Services
3. Fox Symes Debt Consolidation – foxsymes.com.au
4. Credit Card Debt Consolidation
5. Credit Card Consolidation: Tips For Consolidating Credit Card Debt
6. Tips For Staying Out Of Debt And Recovering When You Are In Debt
7. ANZ Debt Consolidation Using A Balance Transfer Or Personal Loan

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