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Getting control of your credit card debt

by CE Wynn

If you have a credit card debt the best thing to do is try and eliminate the balance, interest incurred on the balance is money you could have spent somewhere else. So how do you do that? Here are a few tips in managing and eliminating your credit card debt.

1. Your Attitude

If you have a large credit card debt, the first thing you should be doing is looking at your attitude towards having debt.

If you think it's a necessary evil and you will always have it. Your wrong, change your attitude now.

You don't need your credit card, and its only society that has brought on this requirement to have material possession now, rather then savings and getting them later.

Be warned if you don't change your attitude, and you keep living above your means, there will come a time when you will no longer be able to afford the repayments and you will run into problems.

2. Consolidate

If you have more then one credit card, look at consolidating the balances into the one account. This will make it easier to mange your accounts and keep track of how you're traveling with reducing your credit card balance.

When looking at consolidating your credit cards, do some research and look at other credit cards that may be available, and ask the following questions:

- What's the interest rate?
- What are the upkeep fees?
- Is it better then my other credit cards?

When transferring your credit card debt to another card, offers such as interest free periods are a great bonus when changing cards. But be warned, try and stick to the one card, if you continue to transfer your debt around by applying for new cards, your actions could affect your credit rating.

If you find that you lack discipline and can't help but use your credit card, it might be worth while getting rid of your credit cards all together. Alternatively, look at getting a personal loan to cover the full balance of your current outstanding debt. Although the repayments will be higher, you will have set repayments that will pay off both the interest incurred and principal balance of the loan.

3. Know Your Credit Card

Can you answer the following about your credit card?

- What's your balance?
- What's your limit?
- What are the upkeep fees?
- What's the interest on purchases?
- What's the interest on cash advances?
- Is there are interest free period, and does it apply to cash advances.

If you don't know the answers to all of the above questions, obtain a copy of the agreement and find out. Knowing how


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