There are a lot of strategies for getting out of credit card debt. However, it can be tough to tell which one is the right track for you. If you’re sick of your credit card bills and eager to put owing a bunch of money behind you, read on for a few quick tips that can help.
Stop Spending on Credit
Credit cards are great tools for people who use them sparingly and only for emergencies. However, if you’re falling behind in your bills and getting chewed up by high interest rates, you’ve got to stop spending on credit ASAP. The sooner you stop spending and get your finances back to normal, the better. Just spend the money you have and stop borrowing.
Cut Up Your Credit Cards
Once you’ve made the decision to stop spending, you need to stick to it by cutting up those credit cards and getting out of the mindset that you can still spend when your bank account is empty. You can’t! You’re out of money, so it’s time to get to saving. Here are some pointers for getting this situation back under control.
Get it Together
The first thing you need to do is get a handle on all of your debts. If you’ve got a lot of outstanding credit card debt owed to different lenders, it’s time to do some homework. Which one has the highest interest rate? How much, exactly, do you owe? Getting all of this information together is going to be a huge help!
Consolidation Loan
If your credit is good enough to apply for a debt consolidation loan, this could be a great way to get all of your debts together for easy repayment. Consolidation loans can often have lower interest rates than credit card debt, and it’s easier to focus on one bill than trying to pay down multiple bills at once.
Budgeting
Make a budget and figure out how much extra money from your income you can realistically dedicate to paying your debt off. Are there things you’re buying right now that you could instead go without for a while? Making hard sacrifices now could help you get financially square in the future.
Attack the Debt
You need to start viewing your debt as the enemy and attack it right away. Each outstanding debt you have is accruing interest right now. That means it’s losing you money! The sooner you pay it off, the less it’s going to cost you. Why let it sit there and keep siphoning your hard-earned money? Get mad at it, throw everything you can at it, and take it out before it hurts you more!
As Much as You Can
Try to focus as much extra money on your debt as you can. Making your budget and setting money aside for your debts is a good start. You can also look into getting a side hustle to make some extra cash to help pay it down even sooner! There are a lot of great side gigs you can do right now to make a few bucks.
Snowball Your Debt
If you can’t get a debt consolidation loan to roll all of your credit card bills together, you could instead try the snowball tactic. This method sees you attacking your highest interest rate debt first before pivoting to the next-highest, “snowballing” the extra amount you were paying into each bill until you’ve cleared all of them.
Read More: Tips for Growing Wealth You Haven’t Thought Of
Windfalls
Don’t treat any windfall you might run into as a free pass to spend more. Take that extra money and drop it into your debt. The sooner that interest stops building up against you, the better. You need to get out of debt as soon as you can, so don’t see any extra money you funnel toward your credit card bill as being “lost,” it’s being invested in your future.
Read More: How to Pivot from a Debit Card to a Credit Card
Keep it Up
Don’t let yourself feel defeated by the size of the debt. Just keep at it, hack away at your bills until they’re gone. You can do this! Just stay consistent, stay motivated, and remember that better days are ahead. You just need to weather the hard part now to get free of this burden in the future.
Read More: The Top Reasons You Should Have a Credit Card
