Thrifty Tuesday – Reduce Credit Card Debt

I admit it – I’ve actually never had credit card debt.  I’m one of the fortunate ones.  Many Americans do have credit card debt – I’ve seen statistics ranging from $2,000 to $16,000.  If you are one of those who have credit card debt, try some of the steps to get rid of it.

Call the credit card and ask them to lower your interest rate.  You may have to talk to a manager, but you can often get them to agree. 

Next, stop charging!  If you owe money on a credit card, you are paying an incredible amount of interest on any outstanding balance.  Use cash to pay for your transactions.  Not only will you save money in interest, but you’ll probably find that you spend less money overall. 

Pay off that debt!  Starting with the card with the lowest balance, work on paying those cards off.  Once one is paid, put the money you were paying on it towards the one with the next lowest balance – keep doing it until you’re out of debt.  This is the hard part, but will save you so much money in the long run.

Once the debt is paid off, continue outing money aside each month into an “Emergency Fund”.  This will help when you have a car that breaks down, a house repair, and unexpected illness, or anything else that you haven’t budgeted for. 

Do you have any tips for reducing credit card debt?