Reduce Credit Card Debt

A whopping 19-percent of credit card holders say they have a balance of more than $5,000 and 9-percent say they carry more than $10,000 in credit card debt. That’s according to a new survey from Gallup. The survey questioned 1,021 US adults about their credit card use. The good news is, 43-percent of American credit card holders say they always pay off the full balance on their cards each month and another 17-percent say they usually pay their full balances each month. Credit card holders reported keeping an average balance of $3,848 in credit card debt. If you’re among those with high debt and are ready to start paying more than the minimum try these tips.

Get Some Help from Oprah
Give Oprah’s Debt Diet a try. Step one of the Debt Diet requires getting to the bottom of this question: how much debt do you have? Download the chart, fill it out and you’ll be on your way to losing some of that debt you’re carrying around.

Try Plastic Surgery
No, we’re not talking about nose jobs or lipo. This is about those credit cards. Sure they’re cute and convenient, but they might be the gateway to more debt.

Pay More Than the Minimum.
CNN Money has a really cool debt calculator. Plug in your balance, interest rate and when you’d like to have the debt wiped out. Then they’ll tell you how much your payments need to be to make that happen. This is a great way to find out when you’ll conquer your debt mountain.

Lower your rates
It probably sounds about as fun as that dental appointment, but calling your credit card companies really can help. Ask for a lower rate. Check out Cardtrak.com for a long list of credit cards offering 0% on balance transfers. If your debt isn’t earning interest, chances are it will be paid off in a lot less time.


Author: Nathan Richardson
http://www.articlesbase.com/debt-consolidation-articles/reduce-credit-card-debt-463289.html