When it comes to credit card debt reduction services you can definitely take your fate into your own hands and do not need to invest in some service that will leave you much worse off anyways.
With do it yourself debt reduction you just need to keep a few simple steps in mind and remember that if you do not commit to your paying off the debt then no debt management service is going to be able to help you and your next step is bankruptcy.
Stop Using Them This is the hardest part of debt reduction.
The way credit card companies work is that as long as you pay the minimum payment they will keep raising your credit limit.
Need more room? No problem, they will give you another $1,000 to spend that you cannot afford.
It can get addicting and whatever help you need to get you should get but you need to stop using the credit.
Sometimes you get yourself in such a hole that the only way out of it is the constant increases in your credit limit and that is addressed with the next step.
Get More Money Coming In Take on overtime at work.
Cut back on your expenses.
Give up cable television.
Get a second job.
Do whatever you have to do to get some extra money coming in to help you get this debt under control.
Credit card debt is like gaining weight, it is so easy to build it up and so difficult to get rid of the excess.
You got yourself into the mess and the biggest step in your own credit card reduction is to admit that you have created the mess and now you have to fix it.
Losing a little sleep because of a second job or giving up HBO for a while is a sacrifice you're just going to have to make.
Talk To the Card People Talk to your credit card companies and tell them that you are in trouble and you want to negotiate with them to help pay the balance back.
They will most likely cancel your account but that is okay because by this point you are not using the cards anyways.
Ask them if you can apply extra money to the principle each month and also ask them about reducing your interest rate and the interest you already owe.
The worst they can say is no but if they feel like they stand to get nothing back then they may work with you to get what they can.
Just remember that the credit card companies are looking out or their own interests.
They would rather have a partial payment than risk not getting paid at all.
Use this to your advantage.
With do it yourself debt reduction you just need to keep a few simple steps in mind and remember that if you do not commit to your paying off the debt then no debt management service is going to be able to help you and your next step is bankruptcy.
Stop Using Them This is the hardest part of debt reduction.
The way credit card companies work is that as long as you pay the minimum payment they will keep raising your credit limit.
Need more room? No problem, they will give you another $1,000 to spend that you cannot afford.
It can get addicting and whatever help you need to get you should get but you need to stop using the credit.
Sometimes you get yourself in such a hole that the only way out of it is the constant increases in your credit limit and that is addressed with the next step.
Get More Money Coming In Take on overtime at work.
Cut back on your expenses.
Give up cable television.
Get a second job.
Do whatever you have to do to get some extra money coming in to help you get this debt under control.
Credit card debt is like gaining weight, it is so easy to build it up and so difficult to get rid of the excess.
You got yourself into the mess and the biggest step in your own credit card reduction is to admit that you have created the mess and now you have to fix it.
Losing a little sleep because of a second job or giving up HBO for a while is a sacrifice you're just going to have to make.
Talk To the Card People Talk to your credit card companies and tell them that you are in trouble and you want to negotiate with them to help pay the balance back.
They will most likely cancel your account but that is okay because by this point you are not using the cards anyways.
Ask them if you can apply extra money to the principle each month and also ask them about reducing your interest rate and the interest you already owe.
The worst they can say is no but if they feel like they stand to get nothing back then they may work with you to get what they can.
Just remember that the credit card companies are looking out or their own interests.
They would rather have a partial payment than risk not getting paid at all.
Use this to your advantage.
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