Lose interest and save money? Read on.
Some sound advice on reducing your credit card debt - and you don't owe us a penny for it either!
Credit card debt can be alleviated by a consolidation loan which will both save you money and reduce the debt itself. Using a credit card debt consolidation loan, it is possible to pay off the original debt in installments and thereby prevent the vicious circle of debt causing further debt.
The chief problem with credit card debt is that it has very high interest rates attached to it. The unwary may find themselves paying up to 40% interest although by shopping around this can be reduced to single figures. Even a small reduction in the annual interest rate or APR can result in a major saving in your overall repayment.
If you owe a lot of money on credit cards then credit card debt consolidation is for you. If your debt is made up of lots of debts to individual companies then, to them, you are a small fish in a very big pond. Although you might not think so, your debt is a marketable commodity and, if amalgamated into one loan, makes you a reasonable catch. It is this which will attract a single finance company to take over the whole debt. In doing so, you can actually negotiate a much better rate of interest.
As a rather similar alternative to credit card debt consolidation - why not take out a loan and use the money to pay off all the credit cards? This should make a considerable difference to what you pay back each month. If you can get a secured loan - a loan 'guaranteed' by collateral such as your house, then the interest rate you repay at should be even lower.
It is almost certain that consolidating your debt in one of the above ways will result in reduced payments - either in the short term or overall. What is completely certain is that making multiple payments each month is not an enviable position to be in and it is a recipe for disaster. Reducing it to one single repayment of a fixed amount on a fixed day is a lot more simple to live with.
Once you are underway with your new payment regime, take the opportunity to investigate the repayment rates for credit cards generally. Are you current cards offering you a good deal? If not, find the best and apply for it. If you are accepted, destroy your old cards so that there is no temptation to backslide.
You may not be able to completely resolve your money issues with these measures but they should go a long way to help reducing credit card debt.
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