|
According to cardweb.com, an average American family with one
credit card has a debt of nearly $9,200 on their credit card,
with high interest rates near 15%. You must remember to not
borrow an amount for an amount you won't be able to afford and
always look around for the best interest rates. Credit card
companies often fill your mailbox up with lots of junk trying
to get you to sign-up for their card, however you must be
careful and read the fine print on the back of the paperwork
they send in. The most important note to pay attention to is
the APR%. Lots of credit card companies will try to rip you
off by offering ridiculous APR credit cards, with the % going
as high as 20%. If you look around, and if your credit is
fairly decent, you should be able to find a much better deal.
Rates these days go as low as 7%.
You should try to avoid using your credit card for purposes of
fast food, and vacations, because charges like that are likely
to build up fairly quick. The best way to handle and manage
debt is to set aside an amount of cash on a monthly basis for
the purpose of applying it towards your credit card bill so
that you can pay it off without any issues. Keep a track
record of all the purchases you make, and try to cut down on
things that you really don't need. You will notice that you
will save up your money much more and reduce your monthly debt
dramatically.
The key to getting out of debt is to pay off your high
interest credit cards first to make sure you minimize your
monthly losses on unnecessary charges. Once you are done with
that, move to the next highest credit card and go from there.
Never fall into the minimum trap offered by your credit card
companies. Just because you pay 10$/monthly, does not mean
you're not losing money. In fact you will lose a lot more
money if you intend on making very low monthly payments.
And remember, get help if you have more debt then you're able
to manage to help you get back on track. There are different
agencies available for counseling which may help you
consolidate your debt and help you manage your finance related
problems.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/ |
|
