Do you know how to get rid of credit card debt?

Written by A Guest Speaker on May 19th, 2008

Do you know how to get rid of credit card debt?
Written by Luke Jernejcic

It is not secret that the average American has a huge amount of debt. Just look at the state of our economy. I would venture to guess that every home owner who is going into foreclosure also has a significant amount of debt on their credit cards that they will be taking with them. I however fall into a different, though not uncommon, category of debtor: recent college graduate.

I graduated from college about year and a half ago. I moved back home with my parents but soon found myself in a situation where I had to move out. I got my own place and was doing well enough. However, I was barely making enough to cover all of my expenses. I used my credit card to help me get by, expecting my raises to help me stop relying and start paying my credit cards. As I found out, raises my company raises do not happen on time and cannot be counted on.

I knew that the time had come to stop trying to push through the wall of limited income and to learn to work within my financial means. I had to stop hoping that I would arrive in a situation where I could get out of debt and turn my current situation into onto a scenario that would accomplish it. The most important thing is that if you want to get out of your debt, then you must stop accumulating it. It can be very hard to stop using your credit card purchases.

You go to the grocery store, run errands, etc. and you are used to just swiping the card. Stop doing that. Go to the bank and get your allotted cash or use your debit card (just make sure that you are also keeping track of the account balance). By doing this, you can at least rest know that your credit card debit is not growing. Still, there may be times where it is just better to use the credit card. For example, Costco American Express gives three percent back on gas purchases. That is a nice reward for an expense that you cannot avoid, but that three percent is not going to compare with the twenty percent they are going to charge you.

If you find yourself tempted by such things, take this advice: as soon as you go home make a payment to your credit card for at least the amount that you just spent. Again, you are doing this so that you will not accumulate more debt. A very helpful and important thing that you can do is to let someone in on what you are trying to do. In fact I bet that it would greatly increases your odds of being successful in this endeavor. Tell a friend or family member your situation and ask them to keep you accountable to your plan of action. Make sure it is someone you trust and make sure that you put forth the effort to be honest.

Also, definitely do not let it change the relationship. They are doing this because you asked them to and because they care about you; listen and be appreciative. You hear this all the time, so I will not go into it too much. If you want to get out of debt, then you need to make more than the minimum payments. If you only pay the minimum then it will take you forever to get out. Credit card debit is so hard to get rid of. Often it can very much be a mental game. That is why it is important to create a plan to get rid of it. You can get rid of that debt if you set your mind to it and are persistent. Do not abandon your plan if you fail every so often. As I mentioned, I managed to accumulate a significant amount of credit card debit after college, and this advice is how I am going about to get rid of it.