Expert Advice for Paying Off Your Credit Card Debt

In this economy, more people than ever before are facing a lifestyle of debt. With job loss, increasing living costs and decreasing salaries, many families rely on credit to get by. This is not something you want to happen to you, but from what I understand from speaking to families who are in the situation is that paying off credit card debt forever is preferable to losing your home or leaving your kids hungry. Hearing stories like this makes me sad, and it makes me want to help in any way I can, which is why I’ve researched and found three easy ways you can help to pay off your debt faster and get back to living debt free again.

Stop Using Credit

Cut up your cards. According to financial experts, the best thing you can do to pay off your debt is to stop creating it. This means making the decision to pay your debts and not add to the total. Cut them up, throw them out and don’t ever use credit again. The general rule of thumb that everyone should live by (in my opinion, anyway) is that if you cannot afford to pay for something with cash, you cannot afford it.

Snowball Your Debts

You can go one of two ways; you can pay off smaller balances first and then apply those payments to your bigger cards as you continuously pay off your debt or you can pay off your highest interest cards first to save the most amount of money. It’s up to you; either way, you need to focus on paying off one card at a time and then shifting that payment to the next card when you pay one off.

Calculate Your Progress

When you feel that your debt paying days will never end, make it a point to calculate how far you’ve come since you started paying your debts off. It will help to motivate you and make you feel that you are making progress, even when it doesn’t feel like it.