Help with credit card debt?

I need some advice to help my husband and I eliminate our credit card debt.

We have 6 credit cards (including store cards and bank credit cards) with about a total of $9200.

I usually pay more then the minimum payment. Is it better to pay of the small ones first and then tackle the larger ones or should I pay off the bigger ones first, because we pay more interest on them.

We have a goal of paying them all off within a year.

Any other advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Help with credit card debt?

There are 2 possible answers. Decide if you want to pay as little interest as possible on the debt, or just pay them off as fast as possible.

If you want to pay as little debt as possible, make the minimum payment on all of the cards except for the one with the highest interest rate. Make as much extra as possible of a payment on that one until its paid off. Then move down to the next highest interest rate card, add the payment you would have made to the first card, if you still had it, to this one, along with the regular payment, and so on.

I you want to pay the cards off as fast as possible, and have a sense of accomplishment, figure out which card would be paid off first if you made just the minimum payment required on all of the cards. Make this your focus card. Add whatever additional payment you can to the card, continue to pay the minimum on all the other cards until you pay the focus card off.

Then start on the next card, making it the focus card. pay the minimum on that card, plus the payment(s) you were making on the previous card that is now paid off, and any additional that you can. This has a snowball effect, which will help you pay off the cards fairly quickly, since you will be rolling the old payments you would have made on the now paid off cards into the next cards. The payoffs come faster.

For example, lets say you have 3 cards. Card 1 has a $500 dollar balance, and requires a $25 minimum payment. It will take approx. 20 months to pay it off, making minimum payments. ( not counting accruing interest).

Card 2 has a $300 dollar balance with a $10 minimum payment. It will take approx 30 months to pay off ( again, not counting accruing interest).

Card 3 has a $1000 dollar balance and has a minimum payment of $20. It will take approx 50 months to pay off making minimum payments.

Card 1 has the shortest %26quot;minimum payments%26quot; payoff. So concentrate on that one. Decide how much extra you can afford to pay on it. Say for example that you have been paying an additional 25 dollars on each of these 3 cards. That%26#039;s a total of 75 dollars. Now, instead of making the extra payments on all the cards, make the minimum payment on cards #2, and #3, and pay the $75 plus the minimum payment ( $25) required on card #1. For a total payment of $100. Continue until card #1 is payed off.

Then Start on card #2. Take the total payment that you were making on card 1 ( $100) and add it to the minimum amount you need to pay on card two, in our example ( $10) for a total payment of $110.

and so on.

The key is to NOT put anything new on the cards.

Help with credit card debt?

The goal should be to pay the small ones off first. and then start working to the biggest.

One of the reason why is it gives you a feeling of releif and you can see that your are making head way.

Help with credit card debt?

The best strategy is to pay off the cards in order of interest percentage. Arrange your cards from highest to lowest APR. Pay the most you can on the highest APR card and pay minimum balance on the rest. When the highest APR card is paid off, move to the next, using the same strategy.

Help with credit card debt?

If you are able to, pay off the larger ones first. Those are the ones, like you said, that are costing you the most. They are the ones that take the biggest hunk out of your monthly budget. It is good that you have set yourself a goal of a 1 year time frame to pay them off..try and stick to it and good luck. Your debt is not that bad compared to most people..I know several that have 20,000 or more in Credit card debt and have no plan of taking care of it like you do..they actually borrow from one card to make the payment on another..their ship is sinking fast..Good luck to you.

Help with credit card debt?

It is better to pay off the ones with the most interest first. Another strategy is It may help you to think you are moving forward by paying off the smaller ones first just to reduce the number of cards owed. I would be more concerned if it were just one of you. It sounds as though you are both working and recognize the fact that you have acquired the debt, so things are in your favor. The amount equals to $4600 per person, which is not great, but could be a lot worse.

Help with credit card debt?

i read a book regarding how to settle your debts. With six credit cards to pay a total debt of 9200, you must first know what is the available amount that you can have every month to pay; then, the amount that you owe on each card, to divide by 9200 x 100%. eg.

1. one card you owe is 2000 divide by 9200 x 100 = 21.7%. This percentage x 2000 = 434, this is the amount that you will pay for this one card.

2. then, calculate for the rest of the credit cards

Help with credit card debt?

Debt Snowball.

Your 1st step should be to create an Emergency fund,

$1000 in Cash so you don%26#039;t use cards again in an %26quot;Emergency%26quot;

Make Minimum payments on all but lowest, Slam that sucker.

The pay off smallest debt 1st, roll the amount paid on that after paid on to the second debt,.

Don%26#039;t pay attention to the interest rate.

Smallest to largest amount.

Check out Dave Ramsey..

$9200 is a drop in the bucket.

Sell stuff, take a second job and stop spending.

Help with credit card debt?

I recommend that you enroll in a debt management program. This is a program established by your creditors called the Creditor Repayment Program. What most people do not know, is that your creditors are waiting to help! They have already agreed to participate....but they will never offer these repayment terms to you directly. When you consolidate, you combine all of your monthly payments of your unsecured debt into one low fixed monthly payment by reducing or even eliminating your current interest rates. Several creditors recommend credit counseling. It does NOT hurt your credit, like debt settlement does.

Please contact me so we can discuss this further and we can go over a free, no obligation debt analysis

Lauren Kahn

lauren_kahn@yahoo.com

877-632-3328

Help with credit card debt?

Hi,

I used %26quot; Credit Solution%26quot; to settle my debt and improve my credit score.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58%.It%26#039;s legitimate.I came across this company on NBC News special edition.Check it out here:

http://doiop.com/o1oa2r

Help with credit card debt?

It might be possible that you are eligible to transfer all the cards or most of them into a new card. There are some companies that offer a lower interest rate then what you are probably currently paying when you transfer current balances over to a new card.

Some companies even offer a low rate for the life of the balance until it%26#039;s paid off.

For a list of companies that offer card transfers try...

http://mysite.verizon.net/ressg6c7/right...

or

http://www.rightcharge.org

Good Luck!