How Can You Legally Eliminate Credit Card Debt?
I don’t know exactly where you stand with credit card debt today, but I know for a lot of people, credit card debt is their biggest, most immediate worry. Many people have lost jobs recently and although there are signs of the economy turning around, the job market has yet to recover, or even show signs of stabilizing.
Unfortunately, some of us didn’t save enough to weather this long financial downturn, and have turned to credit cards to make up the difference. But when credit cards get maxed out and/or we can no longer afford to make the minimum payment, thoughts quickly turn to ways that credit card debt can be eliminated for good.
There are several different methods that can be applied to eliminate credit card debt: debt settlement, bankruptcy, debt consolidation, credit counseling services, etc.
Today I’m going to ask you to skip all of those methods and first see if you can do some of the following to help you legally eliminate your credit card debt.
Can You Reduce Your Credit Cards Interest Rates?
If you don’t mind staying on hold on the phone for a while, call up your credit card company and talk to them about lowering the interest rate on your card. It doesn’t hurt to ask. If they resist, tell them you are likely going to switch to using a different card and just pay this one off. Have a competing card in mind when negotiating. Even threaten to close the account. This will likely get your rate lowered. Lower rates mean less money you will owe on unpaid balances. Here’s more about lowering interest rates.
Can You Eliminate Other Expenses?
If you’re saying your not able to make your credit card payments but you haven’t yet gone hardcore frugal, then I have no mercy for you. Determine the minimum level of expense you need to give your family food and shelter, and eliminate all other expenses.With this new found money can you eliminate your credit card debts?
Can You Bring In Extra Income?
Once you have your expenses to a minimum, search out ways to bring in extra income. I recently completed a series of interviews with real people who’ve learned to bring in extra income for their families. I encourage you to take a look at those money making interviews and also exhaust every other resource you have for coming up with other income ideas. Take these extra earnings and use them to pay off those old debt.
Can You Transfer the Balance to Another Card?
While this doesn’t eliminate your credit card debt. It does help you pay it down with less interest paid. This isn’t a method that should be used by the undisciplined, but it’s a wise move. You can move the debt that is on a card charging high interest to another credit card that will actually not charge you interest for a certain period. I did this myself back in 2002 when I was paying off my own credit card debt. Visit how to transfer credit card balances and view some of the top balance transfer credit cards.
Know Who to Trust
Now I know some of you are probably getting upset with me right now because you’ve done all of the above and you’re still struggling to pay off your credit card debts, and find that you simply can’t go on. If you are in this position then I encourage you to turn to the right people for help. The credit counseling industry is full of scammers and fraudulent people. Avoid these types by going to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and seek out one of their members, a Consumer Credit Counseling Service.
If you are going to go through a service to help you eliminate your credit card debt, I like what’s offered by the people at DebtGoal. The charge a flat fee to help you pay down your debt. DebtGoal is a unique do it yourself debt reduction program that launched in December 2008 and has since enrolled over 20,000 users paying down over $1 Billion of debt. DebtGoal helps borrowers pay off debt up to 16 years sooner and have $35,000 in savings, without paying any more than they do today. They have been profiled in notable publications such as Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, US News, and Yahoo Finance.
Related Posts:
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Very good points there.
Do you think that the credit card act that took affect today will change credit card companies willingness to lower APR’s?
My initial thought is that it would as they are losing millions of dollars due to this act…
yeah, I’m sure the act will have a huge impact. the rules will be changing for sure. who knows what they’ll be more flexible with in the future.
one thing is for sure, like any good business owner, they will find a way to make up any loses that the act will cause.
I have been searching for a website like this in the field I am interested in. I am a big fan. I was thinking about creating my own blog about similar ideas for like-minded people. Some good ideas here. Thanks, I can only hope mine turns out as good as this one
Yea, I am with you on getting rates lowered, even with the CC companies losing so much money these days, some are still offering deals. We actually just closed a credit card account yesterday and we were offered a much better rate to keep our business…
One of the most common ways many individuals do when trying to eliminate credit card debts is borrow money from their family or friends – which is not really the smartest move. It’s understandable though, how some people feel that it’s the only solution left.
But borrowing money from people you know is hardly the solution that can accomplish the purpose of eliminating debt. Remember that the longer your credit card debt remains unpaid, the worse your situation gets. The accumulated interest and the rate will continue to increase and compound your debt many times over.
So what do you do? How do you achieve legal debt elimination? Simple. Find a reputable debt reduction program with a proven record to help you find your debt relief solution. Get help today. Your problem won’t go away by itself. We all need a helping hand at one time or another. So find that debt reduction program now and get out of the sticky situation you’re in before you are forced into bankruptcy.