How To Eliminate Credit Card Debt

Essentially most people make use of their credit cards for a variety of things without giving real thought to the implications that could happen in the future from doing so. Many people who carry credit cards, also have the enormous debt that goes along with it. It is said that an average family will carry more than seven thousand dollars in credit card debt alone and is being charged around one thousand dollars in interest alone on a yearly basis. The one thousand dollars that is spend on the interest, could be more useful in other areas such as savings, investments, or paying other bills, instead of essentially flushing it down the drain because you use the credit card for all purposes.

If you are looking to eliminate credit card debt, you have already reached 50% of your goal because your decision to eliminate credit card debt is the first and the most important step towards you being able to eliminate credit debt. Having said that, it is important to mention that you also need to be firm on this decision and stick to it with complete sincerity and seriousness, till you finally eliminate credit card debt (and even after that).

To eliminate credit card debt, you need planning. This starts with analysis of current situation in terms of your debt and your finances (current and as expected in near future). So to eliminate credit card debt, you need to first check the amount you owe on various credit cards. Just use a notebook to note down the amount you owe on each credit card and the corresponding APR associated with them.

Once you have this information handy, you can total up the various amounts to get the total amount of your credit card debt. After all, you can't eliminate credit card debt if you don't know how much it is actually.

The next thing is to see if you have enough cash handy e.g. in your various bank accounts, which you can put to use to eliminate credit card debt (of course, you will need to take a view on how much cash you will need to fulfil your day to day and specific future needs). If you find that you have enough to eliminate credit card debt completely, just go ahead and eliminate credit card debt and earn your peace of mind. However, if you can't eliminate credit card debt completely, check the amount that you can use to eliminate credit card debt partially.

Next step, as you must have guessed, is to check how best you can use this amount to eliminate credit card debt (even if partially) i.e. which portion of credit card debt should you eliminate first. So, first eliminate credit card debt on the credit card which has the highest APR and which is hitting you the most. Then eliminate credit card debt on the credit card which has the next highest APR and so on and so forth. If you are incurring additional late fees etc on some of your credit cards, you might decide to reserve some amount to make minimum payments on those credit cards (before you finally eliminate credit card debt on them).

The best way to eliminate your debt made with credit cards is to simply cease in using them. If you carry more than one, you should choose the card that has an interest rate that is lower than the others and only use that one for emergencies. This card again should only be used in the event of an emergency. Another way to accomplish the elimination of credit card debt, is to begin to pay them off. Sit down and make a list of all the debts you have and the amount you have to pay on a monthly basis for each. You should begin by paying off the debt of the lowest amount first, once you have paid that one off. Take the same amount and begin to pay off the next one up and continue until you have paid them all off.

Another step you can take is to begin by paying off the credit card that maintains the highest interest first or take into consideration consolidating the debt you have by using a loan that carries low interest, such as a home loan. By using these tips in eliminating your credit card debt you could begin to take control of the financial aspects of your life, it is important that you completely understand that the use of your credit card on frivolous items, could result in financial peril.