Reduce Your Credit Card Debt

There are a number of ways to reduce credit card debt. You might start buying tickets in one of those mega million dollar lotteries where you could win more than $100 million like that couple in Illinois recently did. Of course, your odds of winning a lottery like that are about the same as being hit by lightning and simultaneously discovering an oilfield under your backyard.

Better ways to reduce credit card debt

There are better ways to reduce credit card debt then counting on the lottery to bail you out. The simplest way is to keep paying your credit cards and pay more than the minimum so that you are reducing your balance and not just paying interest. If you pay only the interest on, say, $15,000 in credit card debt and pay only a percent or two above the minimum payment, it would take you close to 19 years to reduce that credit card debt to zero.

One solution that has worked for some people is to pay off that credit card debt in the order of the card that carries the highest APR (average percentage rate) first, then the card with the second highest interest rate and so on. You should double, triple or even quadruple the amount you pay on that card until you pay it off. Then move on to the second card. Most experts believe this makes sense because the amount you owe is not critical if you are paying an enormous amount of interest.

The problem with this strategy is that it’s easy to get discouraged. Many people start working on the card with the lowest balance. This seems better because it feels more gratifying to be able to pay off a card within just a couple of months.

It might be all right to do this, but once you pay off those smaller balances, go back to your original plan and take the money you now have freed up and start paying those credit cards that have the highest interest rate.

The key to this plan is sticking to it. It may be tempting to cut down on those monthly payments as you get credit cards paid off but you really need to keep paying on the highest interest rate credit card until you have paid it off. Then immediately start on another card.

Reduce credit card debt with debt relief

The biggest negative of the plan described above is that it takes a lot of self-discipline to do it successfully. You have to be able to hang in there month after month while denying yourself some of the more fun things in life as you double- or triple-down on your credit card payments.

In comparison, there are debt relief–or debt settlement–companies that can actually negotiate settlements with your credit card companies that will reduce your debt by 50% or  60%. A little known fact of credit card life is that the card providers will reduce the amount of money you owe if given a strong enough incentive. A company such as National Debt Relief has a history of being able to give credit card companies that kind of incentive and successfully negotiate programs that will reduce your credit card debt. When you can get your debt cut in half, your monthly payments will be reduced accordingly and you should be able to get completely free of debt in 24 to 48 months.

National Debt Relief is a well-known debt settlement company that always ranks in the top three of debt negotiation companies. It charges no upfront fees and will provide you with a free debt analysis. You can go to its website, http://www.nationaldebtrelief.com, fill out a form and learn what the company could do for you. Since there is no cost, this should be a no-brainer and certainly makes more sense than sitting around hoping to win the lottery.