Credit Card Debt

MoneyWatch for November 2009
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The last time you received your credit card bill, did you ask yourself “What did I buy?” or “Did I really spend that much?” or even wonder “How am I going to pay this off?” Well, 78% or 91.1 million of American households had one or more credit cards at the end of 2008. At the same time, credit card debit also reached $972.73 billion, which is up from the previous year by 1.12%. You do not have to be included in this rise of credit card debit. If you start now, you will be out of debt in no time. Here are a few tips on how to start paying off those credit cards:

• Get Organized – Gather up all your credit card information and make note of their balances and interest rates. (Plus they should be kept somewhere safe, but convenient in case of future issues)
• Pay off the Balance with The Highest APR First – With this strategy, you increase your payment on the credit card with the highest annual percentage rate while continuing to make the minimum payment on the rest of your credit cards.
• Pay Off the Card with The Lowest Balance First - It’s quicker and easier to pay a $500 balance down to zero than a $2,500 balance.
• Consolidate Your Debt to a Single Card - One card payment to pay each month – that’s it. Wouldn’t that be nice?
• Stop Charging – Sometimes try paying with cash, check, or debit. This will help you to stop adding to the large balances you already have on your credit cards.

For more information and tips on how to start paying off credit card debit, visit:

Credit.Com: Tips for Paying Off Credit Card Debit

Click4Credit: Credit Card Debt Consolidation – Top Ten Tips

TODAY (MSNBC): Jean Chatzky’s Top 10 Credit Card Tips

Kankuratan: Eliminate Credit Card Debt

(Statistics provided by Credit.Com)

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Research assistance for MoneyWatch is from Cleveland State University Nance College of Business Administration. Information on the Nance MBD program is available here.