Getting Out of Debt on Your Own

I’m no financial expert, but if you’re one of many people who have credit card debt, you could be heading down the wrong financial path. In my opinion, no one should ever have to use a credit card. Simply put, if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it! For larger purchases, it is better to save up for what you want than to finance it. The first important step in the right financial direction is always to pay off all credit card debt.

So what’s the first step? Stop paying interest! Not all the money you pay on your credit card goes towards the amount you owe. In fact, interest is paid before one cent is applied to your principal balance. So the first step in getting out of credit card debt is to transfer your balance to a zero interest credit card. There are many credit card companies that offer 0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months, and that is exactly the deal you need to take advantage of. A great resource for learning your best options for transferring your credit card balance is http://www.smartbalancetransfers.com/. This site has an abundance of information to help you decide which company and plan is right for you. Even with a 3% balance transfer fee, the money you’ll save in interest is more than enough to cover the balance transfer fee.

Once you’re balance is transferred, you can start to make some real progress towards being debt-free. Forget about minimum payments. Make a budget of your income and expenses, and figure out a monthly payment that you can afford. It should be more than your minimum monthly payment. A good financial planning website is http://www.mint.com. Once you register, you can add your checking and credit card accounts to your Mint.com account. Mint will automatically download your transaction history and show you where money is coming in, and most importantly, where it is being spent.

Transferring your balance to a zero interest APR, sticking to your budget, and making regular monthly payments on your credit card that you can afford, will get you heading on your way down the right financial path to a brighter financial future.