Paying Off Your Credit Card Debt

If you are like most people, you probably have some type of credit card debt. Yes it can be very overwhelming and can have you feeling hopeless. Though you might be embarrassed to discuss your debt with your friends or family, everyone has got to start somewhere. Unless your debt is just ridiculous and out of control, you might need to get help professionally elsewhere, otherwise you can take some simple steps to get control of your debt. With hard work and discipline you can slowly get yourself out of that credit card debt.

First thing you need to do is to put away those credit cards so they aren't easily accessible to you. I don't really recommend cutting up your cards, but putting them away somewhere safe is good enough. This will prevent you from buying unnecessary items that you can go without. Having just a debit card or cash on you will allow you to buy things you can afford and need at the time. Next you need to determine what you can do to earn extra income. Anything goes here, swallow your pride and trade in that expensive chick magnet  of a car that we all love to drive and get a cheaper but still reliable car. Think about anything that you can do that can earn you that extra income, as long as it is legal of course. Maybe you can get some extra hours at your job, earn that overtime pay. Cut down on your entertainment spending, eating out, going out to movies, hanging out at bars with friends. I know all these sacrifices will be hard to make, but for a few months you can do without. You will feel a lot better spending your money on all the above when you know you can afford to.

Finding items that you no longer need or haven't used in quite sometime is a good place to start. You can sell those items on ebay, pawn shops, or even friends that might be interested in them. Old cell phones that you will probably never use could also get you some extra money in your pockets. Donate items if you can't find a place or person to buy them, then later you can file them on your taxes and earn a return for those items. Recycling is another option, might not earn much but recycling cans, plastic, metal whatever you can think of will get you extra cash. If all the above fails, maybe you have a little bit of a savings saved up. If so you can use some of that savings, whatever you can afford to use to pay off some of that credit card balance. The interest you are paying on your credit card will most likely be more then what you earn from your savings account, so it only makes sense to use that money towards your credit card balance as you will still have access to that money if you need it for an emergency.

Okay, now that you have determined a way to get that extra cash to help you pay some of that credit card balance, you will need to come up with a plan. What cards do I need to pay off first you ask? You should start paying off the cards with the highest interest first. You will end up saving quite a bit of money from the interest just by reducing that high interest credit card balance. Continue to pay off the minimum payment of all your other credit cards but pay a little bit more on the one with the highest interest. Reward yourself after paying off that first card, nothing major just a little something that will make you feel good. Continue this over time and you should be good to go. This will take sometime, all depending on how much in debt you are. If you feel like you have too much debt and you don't think that you will make any progress soon then an equity loan http://banking.about.com/od/loans/a/homeequityloans.htm might be another option available to you if you own a home.

Main thing to getting out of that credit card debt is to develop some type of written plan that works for you, follow that plan, stay patience, and over time you will begin to see results. At the beginning it will be very frustrating, but once you start to see you balance get lower and your credit score start to increase, you will know that you are doing something right. Once you get where you want to be financially, make sure you don't slip up and end up in that bad debt situation you were in to begin with. Good luck to all that are working to improve their credit card debt, and whatever plan you choose, hope it works for you. Feel free to share your plans with me here on my blog.