What is the fastest way to get rid of credit card debt?

I'm not talking about those debt consolidation programs, where they settle your debt and you make payments to them. That actually adversely affects your credit. But what other ways are there?

What is the fastest way to get rid of credit card debt?
Pay the minimum on all cards except one. Put every extra penny you can find towards paying off that first card. As soon as that card is paid off, close the account. Then add everything you were sending to the first card plus the minimum you were already paying to the second card.





Start with either the card with the smallest balance or the one with the highest interest rate.





Clip coupons and cut any unnecessary expenses. Buy the store brand at the grocery store instead of the national brand. Buy household staples at the dollar store. Don't waste money on trendy clothes. Before you go to the store, make a shopping list. Review it and make sure you absolutely need everything on that list. Then cross off three things. Stick to the list at the store and don't impulse buy things. Go to the library, not the bookstore. Change your cell phone to the cheapest plan you can or cut it off all together.





good luck
Reply:You can visit http://www.cashguru.info and find very useful tips and several articles on debt consolidation. Report Abuse

Reply:Well violet, honestly I started my own business to bring in more of an income. Then what we also did was get a few of the 0% APR credit cards, transfer our debt into that and CLOSE out the credit cards with the other APR... THEN start paying it off and not using them again:)





If you have any questions - email me at kpernia@marykay.com





Good Luck
Reply:there is only one way and that is to pay them.
Reply:First of all, make yourself a list (or a spreadsheet, if you're technically inclined) of all the cards, how much you owes on them, what the typical minimum payment is, and what the interest rate is.





Add up all the minimum payments. This is the minimum monthly credit card expense.





Check to see if any of the cards have a pretty low percentage usage. For example, if you had a $3k limit on average, are any of the cards under $1,500? If so, pay every last penny he toward the card that has the lowest balance until it's paid off, while you continue to pay the minimum on the other cards.





If there isn't a card close to pay off, he can choose to focus on either the card that has the lowest balance or the one that has the highest interest rate.





If there's some "room" on cards with lower interest rates, it's also not a bad idea to transfer some of the balance from the highest interest card to lower ones, then focus on paying off the now-reduced amount on the high-interest card.





Once one card is paid off, leave it open as an emergency buffer (also known as the broken fridge fund). Later, this will be replaced by a bank account buffer, but if you can get a credit buffer going, it's more important to pay off your debt than to have a lot of money in the bank.





Then choose another card to focus on. (The next low balance or high interest card.) Take the minimum amount that you used to pay on the first card and snowball it into the payment of the second. Wash, rinse, repeat. This process is called snowballing.





Example:


Card 1 - 1,200 (minimum payment: 50)


Card 2 - 1,000 (minimum payment: 40)


Card 3 - 800 (minimum payment: 25)





Once you pay off Card 3, you can then pay 65 per month to card 2.





Don't cancel the cards once you pay them off.





If you owe $30,000/$32,000 that's a 93.75% usage.


If you pay off a $2,000 card it's then $28k/$32k which is 87.5% usage.


However, if you close the paid off card it's now $28k/$30k, which is 93.33% usage.





Keeping the card open but not used makes you look better, because you're not as close to being totally maxed out. (Plus, that's your emergency fund until you get you credit card payments low enough to make a savings account emergency fund.)





In all but the most dire situations, it is possible to pay off debt. This process will take a while, but it'll be worth it!
Reply:To call your credit card company and depending on how much in debt you are, and usually they'll work with you, they will offer a settlement which is roughly 60% of your bill (which is really low..) and they send you a settlement letter in the mail. That's it.
Reply:A consolidation loan , if you own property.
Reply:You pay the credit cards off one at a time with the smallest amounts first, then you cancel the cards that have high interest rates
Reply:Stop spending money you dont have. Budget yourself. Get a loan from family perhaps? Or the bank.
Reply:i'm trying to figure that one out myself!! i don't think many people know that those debt consolidation programs only hurt your credit..
Reply:First off, you (almost) never want to close a credit card account; the reason is that accounts which have been open for a long time increase your credit score. Once a card is paid off, just stick it in your safe and quit using it.





Secondly, what you should do is pay off the cards with higher interest rates first. (Of course, be sure to make at least the minimum payment on every card). Stop using your cards if you can, spend as little as possible, and put as much money as possible every month towards paying down whichever card has the highest interest rate. Depending on your credit rating, you might look into getting a new card with a 0% APR on balance transfers and consolidating your debt. The page I linked to has a list of cards that are recommended specifically for transferring balances.

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