Credit cards can be a really convenient way to pay your daily expenses without the need to carry cash. The key with staying out of credit card debt is to only spend as much as you can afford to pay off each month completely. Where many consumers get into trouble is overspending on their cards and accumulating several large credit cards debts as a result, that then become a problem to pay off. You should think of any credit card as an instant loan the second that you use it to purchase something and know that you have to pay off that temporary loan at the end of the current billing cycle for the card.
If you’re like millions of people that have gotten into credit card debt over time and need to try to lower credit card debt interest rates, there are a few ways to go about this. The easiest way to find this credit card debt help is to talk with a credit-counseling agency. They are skilled in credit card debt consolidation and will look at your complete financial picture to help you find a way of lowering your credit card debt as quickly as possible. You have several choices on how you can lower credit card debt interest rates, and not every one of these plans is right for every consumer. Knowing what will work best for you and your existing credit card debts is critical to finding the right program for you.
One way that many consumers choose to lower their credit card interest rates and their balances is through a debt consolidation. This type of consolidation will allow you to pay down all of your credit card debt with a low monthly payment. You will still have the same amount of debt, but by using a single payment for credit card debt consolidation you can eliminate having to worry about making several payments each month to the individual credit cards and simply make one payment. Also, by paying down the principal in this way many of these credit card companies will lower your higher interest rates over time in case you need to use the credit cards in the future. This is something that you may need to prompt them to do, so be sure to stay in contact with your credit card companies every so often to ask about lower rates. Ironically, the lower the balance you carry with a particular credit card, the better chances you have of getting a lower rate on that card. So if you use debt consolidation to pay down the balances on all of your cards, you should be asking them on a regular basis about lower rates. These debt consolidation programs are available from most credit counseling agencies.
Another option that many homeowners will pursue is a home equity line of credit to help them lower their credit card interest rates. These loans are based on how much more your home is worth than the current mortgage. Many banks will allow you to borrow against this difference in value as part of a home equity loan. You can then use these funds to pay off your credit card debt and enjoy the lower interest rate this home equity loan provides. This type of loan will allow you to pay the balance off over a longer time period as well. The other nice thing is that this type of loan still gives you the option of making larger payments on the months when you have the funds and just making the minimum payment on months when your budget is tighter. This is a very flexible way of lowering your credit card debts and simplifying the payment schedule as well.
One program that many of these credit-counseling agencies offer for credit card debt consolidation is a debt settlement payment plan. This type of program is for consumers that have fallen behind on their credit card debt and have missed a few payments over time on their cards. It may affect your credit rating so you need to try to exhaust other options before pursuing this type of program if possible. The way this type of credit card debt consolidation works is that the credit counseling agency will negotiate with the credit card companies on your behalf and try to get them to agree on a lump sum payment for your outstanding credit card debt. This will be a single payment to settle what you owe on the credit card and will typically be considerably less than what you owe. The credit card companies have programs in place for this type of transaction. Using a credit-counseling agency that has done this type of negotiations before can help speed the process. Once this figure has been determined for each of your cards, the credit-counseling agency will normally arrange for a loan to cover each of these amounts and pay off the cards on your behalf. You would be left with a single payment each month to effectively pay off this credit card debt consolidation loan. This type of program is usually a last resort for most consumers and may have an impact on their credit rating since many credit card companies report the loan as “settled” and this can affect their score. The good news is it will help them settle their credit card debt and is less damaging in most cases than defaulting on the loan or even missing a series of payments.
What this all means for consumers is there is a wide variety of ways to achieve their credit card debt consolidation goals. These programs can help them lower their credit card interest rates and in most cases will also allow them to eliminate this credit card debt in less time and for less money. The key is finding this credit card debt help early and selecting a program that works for your credit card debts and your budget.
