Eliminating Credit Card Debt

By Author: Susanna Berlatsky
Total Articles: 7
Comment this article

If you don't have a credit card, you are at a severe disadvantage in today's society. You need one to rent an automobile. You need one as a convenience factor. For example, if you make a large purchase, it's a great deal handier to pay for it using a credit card than with a cash. It's also safer to carry a credit card than to carry cash. If you are robbed, you are limited to the amount of money that you are at risk for. And , finally, a credit card is good to have in the case of emergencies where you need to get hold of cash quickly without going through a bank application process. In short, credit cards are not the problem. It's how people mismanage them that is the cause of most credit card debt.

Many adults today have been in credit card debt for so long that they have never thought seriously of how eliminating it could result in tremendous improvements in their life.

Getting rid of credit card debt implies bringing down the amount you owe on your credit card to a small enough sum that let's you to pay the statement balance at each month end period. Getting rid of your credit card debt has multiple advantages. ...
... Your credit scores, which are set by the various credit reporting agencies, gets better. You will be able to negotiate lower interest rate charges on your credit cards. You will get lower interest rate offers on loans such as car loans and mortgages. And, since you're paying less on credit card interest charges, you will have more spendable income in your pockets.

Once your credit card bills are under control you will immediately notice that you have options that you may have not thought of before. If you have kids, you can begin to take the money that you've been paying for credit card interest and re-allocate it towards a fund for your child's college. If you've been putting off a vacation due to lack of funds, you may find that now you can afford your vacation. You may even be able to start thinking about setting aside some money for your retirement.

A good debt elimination program does more than help you to get out from under your credit card debt. It also helps you to avoid getting into similar situations in the future. Unfortunately, for most people, managing money is a natural skill.

There are essentially two ways to eliminate your credit card debt. One is to come up with a plan to systematically reduce your debt. You can do this either by yourself or with a service. The other way is to attempt to settle your debt with some of your credit card companies. Of course, you can also try a combination of the two methods - settling with the creditors that you can and having a program to pay off the others. Also, don't think that a settlement has to be for the full amount that you owe. Even if you can get a creditor to settle for 90%, 80%, or less of what you owe, it all helps you. With a settlement, the important thing to work at ways of keeping the record of the settlement off of your credit report.

No one should trivialize the difficulty of getting out of debt once you're in it. But, just because it's difficult doesn't mean that it should be ignored. If you're in deep debt, and want to get out, you have to start someday. That day should be today.
Susanna Berlatsky is webmaster and owner of http://www.cardcreditdebtsettlement.com. On her site you'll find articles about government help paying your credit card debt and other credit card debt related topics.