credit card debt reduction

By Thomas J. Withrop

Most people are in debt over their heads before they realize they need a credit card debt reduction program.

It is not a phenomenon among today’s youth or even the elderly.

The growing problem is often ignored and not recognized for the seriousness until the late fees start accumulating and the collection calls start.

You need to start to plan a credit card debt reduction strategy.

Begin by gathering all your credit card statements.

Go over them to find where and what you are spending your money on each month that you can reduce or eliminate.

Create a list of all your debt by card by writing down the balance owed, minimum payment due, day of month payment is due and the interest rate.

Also list your other monthly payments such as your mortgage or rent, utilities, car loans and any other loans.

List the same information as you did with your credit cards.

Once you have this information you will have a better handle on your overall financial situation.

You have two basic implementation goals for your credit card debt reduction strategy:

Make the minimum payments on all your cards and start making additional or larger payments on the accounts with smaller balances. This will reduce the number of payments you will need to make each month much sooner, but leave you paying more interest costs.

Make the minimum payments on all your cards and start making additional or larger payment s on the accounts with the largest balance. Once this is paid off, do the same for the next highest balance card. This leaves you with the same number of payments you have to make each month, but saves you a lot in the total amount of interest paid.

You have one behavioral goal for your credit card debt strategy

Learning to avoid situations where you are in instant gratification mode. Leave your credit cards at home when your favorite store is running a sale or special. When you go out for the evening take cash instead of your credit card. You will be surprised on how far you can stretch your cash.

Getting Out of Debt Trouble

The exercise you completed by going over your credit card statements should have highlighted to you areas that you need to focus on behavioral control. If you can’t think of any, or don’t think you need to modify your behavior go back and review those statements again.

If you find that you still can’t find areas that you need credit behavioral modification, or you just keep procrastinating you may need professional credit card debt help.

Most consumer credit counseling agencies have credit card debt reduction programs. Not all agencies work alike.

Some will be more adept at helping you get lower interest rates while others specialize in credit card debt negotiation. That is a settlement so you do not have to pay all of the outstanding balance.