Eliminate Credit Card Debt

How Can I Eliminate My Credit Card Debt?

It's starting to feel like we aren't good Americans if we don't have at least several credit cards. The problem is that many of us are also in a position where we would do just about anything to eliminate credit card debt that we've accrued. We receive tempting offers by mail nearly everyday to apply for yet another card. Companies are falling all over themselves to make their offers the most attractive, giving incentives like an interest free period, or a low rate once that time expires. They also invite us to add all of our other outstanding balances to their card, making it sound like we'll have less debt. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but be careful as you may end up paying off a larger debt.

Extra Charges

Some of the things to be aware of is how much the card company charges you in interest, how they compute it, whether or not they charge you an annual fee, and how much their over-balance or late fees are. Also be aware that those wonderfully low interest rates are really only offered to people with excellent credit scores. For example, you may sign up for a card that is supposed to only charge 2% interest. Sounds great until you receive it and notice that once the honeymoon period is over you'll be paying 15% or more. Maybe it would be better to just eliminate credit card debt altogether.

Credit Report

Another thing to watch out for is the fact that all those friendly notices telling you that you're pre-approved are usually bogus. You'll find this out when you notify them that you accept and learn that they will first have to access your credit report. The problem with that scenario is that any time you apply for credit and are turned down; it will show on your credit report and most likely will lower your score. A sad statistic is that the average American family is carrying $8500 on their charge cards. That's an astounding figure since it's an average and should have many of us working to eliminate credit card debt.