Anyone can get into debt - impulse shopping, trying to keep up with your wealthier friends and family, and sudden emergencies can easily rack up huge debts on your credit cards - but with a little bit of work you can dig your way out to the point where you don’t owe anybody anything. What a relief to stand on your own two feet!
Instead of this feeling of freedom, most people are deeply worried about their finances. The average American family has over $8,000 in credit card debt. If you owe that much to credit card companies with high interest rates, you might think that debt management is pretty much impossible. You might find yourself scrambling to meet the minimum payments, or using one credit card to pay off your other one.
Before you panic, there are a few things for you to consider:
- Visit your bank or credit union for help. Chances are that they can consolidate all of your loans into one – sometimes as a line of credit. You still have the debt, but it’s probably at a much lower interest rate than all of your credit cards combined.
- Work at paying off your line of credit. Show your bank that you’re serious - Get rid of all of your high interest credit cards and keep one for emergencies only.
- Seriously, it’s for emergencies only – don’t use the card unless it really is an emergency.
Take the first step today. Contact your bank to find out if they can help you consolidate your debt and get your finances back under control.
