Credit Card Debts

Credit Card Debts

Betcha Got Credit Card Debts!

Most of us do! But how much and what we do to get rid of them varies from person to person. If your credit card debts are fairly low and your credit is good, you might be able to transfer your balances to a credit card with a 0% introductory rate. Some of these 0% introductory periods can last up to a year, in fact! If you're serious about getting rid of your credit card debts, figure out how much your payments would be over a year and pay the new card off within that year. Just make sure you find a card that doesn't have an annual fee or any balance transfer fees. Talk about interest-free financing!

If your credit isn't quite so stellar, getting a card like this might be a little more difficult. Even if your credit is good, it might be hard to get this kind of card if you already have too much debt. Credit card companies tend to stay away from people who might be "overextended." That is, people with high limits and high balances to match, or even just people with high limits. If you can't get the 0% card, don't worry. There are other options. In fact, there are debt management programs designed specifically for people with a lot of credit card debt.

Credit Card Debt Management

When it comes to getting rid of your credit card debts with help from the pros, there are four different debt management programs out there that can help. Most of them function by getting you interest rate reductions that will have you out of debt in five years or so! Here are the kinds of reductions you can expect from each:

• Debt Consolidation - Gets you reductions in interest rate and sometimes gets past fees removed, resulting in an overall balance reduction of around 57%, on average and debt freedom in as little as five years.
• Debt Consolidation Loan - Got high interest credit cards (and high interest credit card debts to match)? If you have collateral, you can get a low interest (usually single-digit) debt consolidation loan which can be paid off in about five years.
• Debt Consolidation Mortgage - This is similar to a debt consolidation loan, but the amount you borrow to pay off your credit card debts immediately gets tacked on to your mortgage, and you get that low rate. Although your debts are paid off immediately, you're still paying off the amount you borrowed for the life of your mortgage, but you get that same low rate.
• Debt Settlement - This gets you big reductions overall, meaning you can get 50-80% knocked off the total amount you owe. However, you'll have to pay the new balance off in full right away (or in 1-3 years if you don't have enough cash). This does damage your credit slightly, however.

Assess your situation and compare it with the programs and options listed above to see how you can get control of your debt.

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