Get Out Of Debt Now By Getting Rid Of Your Credit Cards

If you are like most Americans, you are probably in heavy credit card debt. My husband and I used to be, too. You need to get out of debt now.

We had eight maxed-out credit cards and we would make minimum payments on each one every month. When you make a minimum payment almost all of your money goes toward interest. This means it can take years to pay off each card. The high interest rates are killing you and your budget!

Because you have so many credit cards, almost all of your money goes toward paying your monthly bills. This means you are broke all the time, even if you make good money. If you have an emergency, you can either pay for it on a credit card if you still have room on one, or you just have to let the emergency go. You are in trouble when you have to ignore the broken car, refrigerator, air conditioning unit, or some other important problem. I know how it is. I have been there many times. It is all a vicious cycle.

My husband and I were broke all the time. Then one day, we got smart and did what you should do if you ever want to get out of debt! We cut up all of our credit cards. Plastic gone! Scary stuff, let me tell you, but then it begins to feel liberating.

Make sure you cut up all of your credit cards. Do not save one for an emergency. If you do, you may decide that after a bad day at the office or after a fight with a spouse, friend, or other family member, you may need a pizza or a Big Mac. Because of the bad day or the fight, this constitutes an emergency. After all, you work hard and you deserve what you want. They made you feel bad so you need something to help you through this bad emergency...Then the debt starts all over again. It is a vicious cycle...

Do not keep a credit card in the middle of a block of ice in the freezer for a rainy day like the girl did in Confessions Of A Shopaholic. If you do, you will have a shopping emergency, defrost the card, and shop your way back into debt! Don't let this happen to you. Cut them all up.

Now that you have cut up all of your charge cards, here is the next step you should take so you can get out of debt now. Gather up all of your credit card bills and see which one has the lowest balance. This is the bill you will attack and pay off first. Continue to make minimum payments on all of the other credit cards. On the bill with the lowest balance, apply all of your extra money to pay it off quickly.

Cut back on going out, shopping, eating out, movie rentals, and theater trips. Work some overtime. Sell some things on E-Bay, Amazon, or have a garage sale. Use all of your earnings from the sales to pay off the credit card with the lowest balance as soon as possible.

Another way to get extra money is to cut back on some of your monthly expenses. My husband had the cable TV cut off just last week. He also turned our home phone off since we all have cell phones. (Our cell phones, by the way, are prepaid. This means there are no longterm contracts and no nasty, surprise high phone bills. If the kids talk too much, they are out of minutes and can no longer make or receive phone calls for the month.) Turning off the phone and cable service is going to save us about $140 a month.

Another thing my husband did a few months ago to help get us out of debt now was to turn down the temperature on the water heater. The water is still hot enough to shower. Then he turned down the pressure of the water faucets. He also turned off the hot water on two of the bathroom sinks. Doing all of this saved us approximately $50 a month off of our water and electricity bills.

If you have a longterm phone contract or internet contract that you don't think you can get out of, think again. Case in point: A year ago, my husband signed a two-year contract with Verizon to provide me with satellite internet so I could connect to the internet with my laptop anywhere I went. The charge for this was $64 a month. My husband called to try to get out of the contract.

The customer service rep he spoke with said no way. My husband asked to speak with a supervisor and said he wanted to cut the services and was not going to be able to pay the bill anymore. The supervisor said she would cancel the contract for a $55 fee, so he took it. Paying a one time fee of $55 is a whole lot cheaper than paying $64 per month for another 12 months! $64x12=$765 so we saved $710.

You can do all of the things in this article to help you get out of debt now. Be creative and see what else you can do.

Once your first credit card is paid off, apply the payment you were making on the first card to the second card with the lowest balance and begin attacking that card with fervor. Keep doing this as you pay off one card after another. Before you know it, you will get out of debt.

Dave Ramsey teaches this in his Financial Peace University and so much more. I wish we had his teachings back when we first got into credit card trouble. I recommend checking out his course to get out of debt now.