Wednesday, 2 April 2008

Sensible credit card debt strategies

By Vicki Lewis

The percentage of people who own at least one credit card increases every year but there again, credit card debt is also at a record high as well; the industry may be flourishing but the ease with which credit is given is causing financial distress to many. When you owe thousands of dollars then you need to seriously consider ways to pay off the debt before it gets too late. It now remains for each individual to realize what a position they are in and find some way to obtain credit card debt relief.

At this point it is important to start as you mean to go on and stop all spending on the card otherwise it will make arranging a debt relief plan much harder to implement. Credit card debt relief is possible but it does rely on the person actually wanting to do something about the situation. The most frequent methods of debt consolidation are shown below.

Obviously, the easiest way to proceed is to apply for a credit card with a low interest rate on balance transfers where the debt can be consolidated where repayments can be made regularly within a specified budget. Another method is to arrange a consolidation loan to relieve the debt, then paying just one amount which is easier and within a budget.

Once this amount has been agreed, the person with the debts must ensure the payments are made in full each month until the balance is clear. This option will not work if the credit standing of the debtor is poor and they are not in a financial position to pay off their debts monthly.

The next step if their credit history will not allow credit card debt relief is to use the services of a debt relief agency that can negotiate paying the debt off. Normally, when these negotiations proceed approximately half the debt will need to be paid and the remainder to be written off by the creditors.

However, if this option fails then the only option left is to file for bankruptcy which will clear all the debts but this should never be viewed upon as the easiest or first option as there are negative aspects to consider. Once this option has been decided upon the debtor must be in no doubt that they will find it difficult to apply for any type of credit until the end of the bankruptcy as they will need to rebuild their credit rating. Credit card debt relief should not be something you ever repeat because it will mean you haven't learnt anything from your experience.

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