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Lower Credit Card Debt

theempire | Aug 10, 2009 | Views: 370 |

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Learning how to lower credit card debt is one of the keys to be debt free. There are a few steps that you can take today to do this. If you can get the interest on just a few of your credit cards, you've already saved yourself a ton of money. Luckily for you, it isn't hard and you can do it on your own.

There are generally two routes to take to get out and lower credit card debt. You can do it yourself, or hire a credit card debt consolidation company. Both methods are effective, but your current situation will determine which method you choose. We'll also take a look at both of these so you can get started on getting out of credit card debt today.

Negotiate Lower Credit Card Debt

One of the easiest ways to lower your credit card debt is to give them a call and see if they'll lower your interest rate. You'll be surprised how easy this actually is. Find the customer service number that's on your credit card statement and give them ring. Before you dial, have a bit of a plan on what you're going to say. Some of the most common things to say are-

Tell them that you've been shopping around and found other companies that offer a much better rate than they do, and are considering switching.
Tell them that your going through some financial hardships and are going to have problems making payments in the months to come (tears will help here).
Or, just tell them the truth that you're doing your best to get out of debt and want to do it yourself. If you tell them that you want to remain a customer after your debt is gone, they'll probably help you out.

Another thing that's cool about this method is that most of the customer service representatives that you'll talk to have the ability to lower your interest rate right there on the phone. This is by far the easiest way to lower your credit card debt.

Stop Making More Debt

When it was time to lower my credit card debt, the hardest thing for me was to stop using my credit cards. I had to hide them in under the sink in my guest bathroom for me to stop using them. This is the biggest part of lowering credit card debt. You can't make any sort of plan to get out of debt if you're still making more.

Consolidation Or DIY?

If you can still make your monthly payments but are struggling to get ahead of your debt, you can certainly do this on your own. Take all of your credit card bills, lay them out in front of you and organize them from highest APR to lowest. The ones that have the highest APR are the ones that you pay extra money to each month. This may mean that you're only going to pay the minimum payment on the low APR cards for a little while, but you're going to knock out the ones that make your debt grow the fastest. If your credit score is still strong, you may be able to get a debt consolidation loan.

Bill consolidation is a great method for people who have bad credit, or already fallen behind and can't make all of your monthly payments. Bill consolidation for small business is also available to businesses that are in similar situations.

More Info Barrels by The Empire