Are you carrying an unreasonable amount of credit card debt and wondering how you will ever manage to pay it off? Here are some effective ways to clear your credit card debt.
1. Take It Card By Card
If you are in the deep end of the debt pool, with humongous balances on various cards, it might feel overwhelming to even consider clearing it all at once. Even if you do make the attempt, you will find yourself stretched thin and unable to make meaningful progress. Rather than giving up before you even start, try a different approach; pay off one card at a time.
How do you do this? Look at your different cards and ascertain which has the lowest amount of debt. Then put every extra pound you have into paying off the balance on that card, while still paying the minimum required amount on the rest of the cards.
2. Make Two Minimum Payments on Your Card Each Month
Every credit card you carry has a minimum amount, usually 2% of your balance, that you need to pay every month. However, many people have learned that simply paying the minimum balance is not enough to clear your debt. Credit card companies charge daily interest rates, meaning that every extra day you wait to make a payment works in their favor as interest fees and your indebtedness goes up.
If you have significant debt on your card and cannot afford to clear it out in large chunks, a more appropriate way to clear it out is to pay two minimum payments every month. Paying that minimum balance will help you cut down the pay-off time to a third of its original length.
3. Request Lower Rates
The challenge with card debt is rarely ever in the amount borrowed and more in the high-interest rates charged by the credit card companies. However, these interest rates vary from one company to the other and sometimes can be negotiated. If you have been using a particular card for up to a year and make your payments on time, you can call up your credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate.
To keep your business, most card companies will reduce your interest rate by one or two percentage points, which could lead to your debt being paid off faster as well as a few hundred pounds being saved at the end of the year.
4. Switch Card Companies
If your credit card company staunchly refuses to give you lower interest rates, a fallback option you have is to switch to a card company with lower rates and transfer your card balance. By doing this, you could end up saving hundreds of pounds annually. However, only do this if you are committed to paying off your balance, as repeatedly switching providers could backfire and negatively affect your credit score.
By employing all of these tactics, you can ensure that you will be debt-free with a brighter financial future on the horizon.?
