How to Stop Credit Card Debt
- 1). Call your credit card companies and negotiate a lower rate of interest, which allows more of your payment to be applied to the principal balance instead of interest. This helps reduce your balance faster. If you cannot make a payment for one month, the interest that accrues is added to your balance, and your debt grows faster.
- 2). Make your payments on time. Any late payments will cause you to incur late charges. A late payment can increase your interest rate to the credit card default rate, which can be well over 25 percent.
- 3). Establish a budget that keeps you in control of your finances. This will ultimately stop credit card debt from accumulating further.
- 4). Stop the junk mail credit card offers from coming to your address. Sometimes people will fill out these offers as a habit, and before you know it, you have applied for two or three cards you don't need. If you have the cards, chances are you will use them.
- 5). You may want to shred your credit cards and throw them away, but don't close out the accounts because that can lower your credit score.