6 Tips to Reduce Your Credit Card Debt
If you're in credit card debt, you want to dig yourself out of the hole as quickly as possible. Things can escalate to a point where you may feel unable to do anything as it piles up on top of you. This adds stress to you and your family life. Sometimes, you may find that your credit limits are getting lower while the interest rates get higher. Here are some helpful tips that can help reduce your credit card debts and gain back some much-needed control.
1. Create A Budget
Have a detailed budget to see what comes in and what goes out. It's possible that right now, you have no idea. Change that today. Organize your budget into groups or categories and see what you spend a month. If more money is going out than coming in, it's time for drastic measures. Stop the rot now. Look at some things to see if it's really needed. A little sacrifice is called for. Do you really need that magazine subscription? Is cable TV that important when you only watch 4 good channels? You'd be better off getting an antenna with free channels and do away with cable fees.
2. Putting Extra Money
In keeping with the above (creating a budget), you may have sacrificed a few items that are not needed. With this extra money, pay more into your debt. By doing so, you can possibly save money by reducing your payoff time by a couple of months.
3. Ask The Boss For A Raise
Be professional and ask your boss for a raise. State your case to him or her. There's no harm in asking and at the most, if the answer is no, at least you tried. You'll be surprised; sometimes, this can actually turn out to have a favourable answer, so don't rule this one out.
4. Ask For A Lower Interest Rate Card
It's surprising that many people don't even consider this. This actually has a high percentage of working. Just ask your bank and you might have your interest rate reduced from 18% to 11%. Every little bit helps.
5. Sell Things Off
You could have a garage sale. Just about everyone has stuff at home that they don't need or use any more. People will always pick up stuff at garage sales. Have a bunch of CDs from your rocking days? Sell them on ebay.
6. Use A Credit Counsellor
You can get help from a credit counsellor to manage your debts. This can be a very helpful, effective way to reduce your debts, but you really need to be serious as you'll be asked to make huge sacrifices.