Credit Card Relief Now

If you’re searching on the internet for ‘credit card relief’, then chances are pretty good you’re already in a tough situation financially and you’re looking for some significant advice and help.  You need to understand that there’s no shame in seeking help – this is not a problem that you need to go through alone.  There are millions of people out there facing economic catastrophes and we all need to come up with the best solutions together.

General Advice

The first thing you need to do is to take an inventory of the amount of debt you currently have, specifically with credit cards and other short-term loans.  Next, you need to sit down with a sheet of paper and write down your monthly income, and then subtract all of your monthly expenses that are “fixed” (meaning things you know about each month such as your mortgage/rent payment, phone, TV, internet, utilities, car payment, insurance, loans, etc.).  I know people are always telling you to “budget” and it probably is rather annoying, but you really do need to see what money you have left each month after these fixed expenses.  Keep in mind that the money you have left needs to pay for food, gas, entertainment, repairs, and anything else that pops up each month.  Until you have a handle on your spending and the amount of money you have available each month, then you can’t start to consider tackling your credit card debt problem.

Credit Cards

Credit cards can be very useful tools for many reasons: They give us an opportunity to buy something when we don’t have cash on us, they effectively give us interest-free loans if you pay them off in full the first month, and they also often give us reward points or miles, which amounts to a 1-2% discount on every item you buy.  So used in a manner where you pay them off in full each and every month, they are an incredibly effective tool to manage your financial life.
However, there is certainly a dark side to credit cards, and unfortunately people don’t find out about that side until it’s often too late.  For many people credit cards allow them to buy things that they otherwise couldn’t afford, because they think they only need to pay the minimum amount each month.  So it sounds pretty good to buy a $1,000 TV when you only have to pay the minimum of $15 each month to pay it off, right?  What is often left unsaid is that many cards carry an interest rate of over 20%.  At that type of rate, it will be nearly impossible to pay off the balance of your card by just making the minimum payment.  The interest added each month will be just about the same as your minimum payment, so even though you think you’ve done the right thing by making your payment, you actually haven’t decreased your loan balance at all.

Credit Card Relief

Here are some action steps to take to get some credit card relief:
If you’re in major credit card debt, the first thing you need to is to stop using your credit card! It’s essential that you try to limit the damage now, so you can get an understanding of what it’ll take to get out of debt. Often the next step will be to see if you can cut expenses to free up some money to help pay down the credit card balance. I know it seems fun to have that expensive cell phone plan, or to keep going out to dinner every Friday night, but you need to really look inside yourself and say that if I can sort this out myself, and pay off my debts, that will be my best option.
That said, for many people, they’ve already cut their expenses to the bone. They’ve shut off the television, moved to a smaller house or apartment, stopped going out to eat, stopped buying frivolous things, and they STILL just cannot make it work. At this point it’s essential that you contact your creditors and fully explain the situation to them. If you’re honest and express a willingness to pay back the debts, they will be more likely to work with you to come to a resolution that will be beneficial for both parties. Clearly if you go into the conversation expecting that they’re just going to throw you thousands of dollars in debt relief because somehow you “deserve it” or “the next guy got debt relief”, then you’re probably going to poison the atmosphere and lessen your chances of having a settlement plan worked out. You have to internalize the fact that you are in debt, that debt is unmanageable and you need help. That will help you get the credit card relief that you need to move on with your life.