Eliminate Credit Card Debt by financial news articles.

Published: 22/10/06

I got my first credit card when I was in college. By the time I graduated four years later, I not only had my student loan to pay, but I now had some major credit card bills as well. Ten years later, I think that I am probably still paying for my spring back from back then. Interest rates and continued spending have put me $20,000 in debt on just my credit cards. While I have excellent credit, it is more difficult to get loans when companies see how much money you owe. My husband and I want to move to a bigger and nicer house within the next several years. Before we can get a higher mortgage, we need to eliminate credit card debt. Granted, that is so much easier said than done and I am by no means one who should be talking. The very first step that we took to eliminate credit card debt was to transfer some of our balances to 0% interest cards. By doing that simple step, we managed to save almost $40 per month from interest charges. That extra $40 now goes to paying off our balance. Within a year, that means we will have paid almost an extra $500 towards our debt. I highly recommend finding a way to transfer some balances to lower interest rates as the first step to eliminate credit card debt. Also, knowing that I need to eliminate credit card debt, I took on a part-time job in addition to my full-time job. We didn't see one another as often as we did before but we have learned to appreciate each other more as well. I don't like having a part-time job but I have managed to put all of those earnings toward our goal - eliminate credit card debt. That was an extra $300 per month that I was able to pay towards our cards. I am quite a bit more tired than I used to be with working 2 jobs, but I know that I will be sleeping in a nicer house before too long. I am absolutely determined to eliminate credit card debt before it controls our lives. It has for this long and I have grown way too tired of it. Some friends of ours filed for bankruptcy right before the laws changed. That was their easy way to eliminate credit card debt. I personally could not do that. I have maintained an excellent credit score for this many years and I take pride in that. I have chosen to take responsibility for and eliminate my credit card debt the traditional way. If I have debt, it is my fault. All of my credit card debt was from purchasing things, not from medicals bills or items I could not help. I accrued it and I will eliminate credit card debt the honest way. It may take me longer to eliminate credit card debt than they did, but I will do it. We need to pinch some pennies and tighten our budgets in order to eliminate credit card debt and we will manage. I'm determined.