Tightening Your Belt to Get out of Credit Card Debt
Contributed by Alix Mcmurray
Tightening Your Belt to Get out of Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt may be the single most pressing economic problem facing Americans today. The widespread nature of the problem is easy to see. An informal accounting of t.v. commercials reveals that during evening prime time, nearly 1 in 3 are advertisements for debt consolidation services. Like cortisol and high density lipids, credit card debt is the "bad fat" of the American consumer.
How'd I Get So Fat, with So Much Credit Card Debt?
You'd think being stressed out would make you thin, but Baby Boomers are discovering just the opposite is true. And making only the minimum monthly payments on your cards is a bit like taking the elevator to your office every day -- it won't make you any more fit. Credit card debt is a self-perpetuating cycle not unlike weight gain. The more excess baggage you carry, the harder it is to take off. The trick is to make a commitment to a lifestyle change, and like a diet, stick to it.
Taking Time to Work Off That Credit Card Debt
Workbooks and self-help manuals abound to assist the debt-bloated consumer with a structured means for working off the "pounds". Some (e.g. Garrett Sutton's "The ABC's of Getting Out of Debt")recommend setting up a schedule for credit card repayment, such as dividing the outstanding balance by the minimum monthly payment to come up with the number of months needed for payoff.
To this an extra amount is added, gleaned from savings in other areas of the household budget, to speed up the payoff time. The debt calculated to be easiest to repay is paid off first, followed by the others in increasing order of difficulty. In this way, success is experienced in steadily increasing increments, much like a motivational system for exercise at the gym.
