Best way to wipe out credit card debt?

Wipe out the ones with the highest interest first.

Pay on each card, something every month by due date.
Contact the card companies and tell them what you can pay each month. Don’t miss the date or amount.
DO NOT use any credit card until you are current on all the cards.
DO NOT cancel any cards you have open now.

Use the debt snowball method.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-snowball_method
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/get-out-of-debt-with-the-debt-snowball-plan/

Good luck!

I have zero credit card debt. And yes, I used some in the past.

Best thing is to pay of the small balances first, then apply all extra money to the larger balances. And don’t use them anymore unless you pay it off each month.

I got so mad that I cut all mine up and it jacked my credit up a little bit, but it was totally worth it to cut them up angrily…lol

I would wipe them out starting by paying extra on the one with the highest interest rate. Keep it up until that is paid off, and then move to the one with the next highest interest rate. Repeat.

Good luck.

My suggestion would be to move the debts with the very high interest to cards with lower interest if you can.

Personally, I think wipe out the debt on the cards with the smallest balances first. Once down to zero charges interest stops compounding. If you focus on cards that have large balances, but they also have high interest, all your cards will continue to compound. Plus, it feels psychologically good to tackle one, get it to zero and get it out of the way. I am not saying don’t take into consideration that some have higher interest than others, but that is only part of the equation to me for getting rid of debt.

@JLeslie Doing it your way costs the person more money.

@marinelife It probably does a little bit. Some of it depends on how much the different interests are on the card. I am not saying don’t pay anything down on the high interest cards, but if the OP can completely get rid of debt on a few cards fast, I still say tackle that with fever while still paying as much on the other cards. Also, I did recommend moving the debt to lower interest cards if possible. Move the money that is on the highest interest cards.

It IS a great feeling once it’s done. We are completely debt free except for one car payment that the company pays. We have a couple of cards we pay off every month and earn miles. It feels great to know we’re not getting screwed by the banks anymore.

@Judi It does feel good. We’re far from out of debt – a car, a house, one credit card (no interest for a year), and $25K in student loans coming around the corner. However, we had a month or so of being completely broke before we got our income tax refund and had to rely on credit. As soon as the money was in our account, I paid off three credit cards with it. It was a huge weight off my shoulders. Having money on more than one card makes me so nervous.

I always pay off the smallest ones first. It’s easier to get the number of bills down so you can focus on the larger ones.

@marinelife I found this article that backs up what I said in that there seems to be evidence people are more likely to follow through and be successful if they do the small balances first. I didn’t expect there to be some research on it. It also supports what you said about it costing a more.

My take is people who have high ongoing credit card debt aren’t the best with finances, not that they can’t completely turn around and become very good at their finances. Anyway, lots of debt on many credit cards feels overwhelming I think. People like you and I would probably go for what saves us the most money, but that is part of the reason we don’t, I am assuming you don’t, have credit card debt, because we already knew the banks are loan sharks and would never fathom paying thay crazy interest to begin with.

I’m making assumptions there about different personalities with money, but that is where my thought process was.

Only three posts in one thread @JLeslie? Are you losing your touch?

@marinelife You directed a statement towards me, sorry I didn’t bother to do research before my second post. I have left you alone for a long time, because I know you were not happy when I did it. I pretty much never question you unless you ask me something directly.

I do not know if everyone is aware of this fact.
Even If one pays the bare minimum on their credit cards , that it is not enough.
One must pay more that the minimum.

Another way to clear all debt easily is to contact a Credit Counselling Company that gets creditors off your back ( creditors cannot contact you personnally)>
They can also arrange no more interest charges, plus reestablish your credit rating too.
They arrange easy payments agreed by you on the number of months, or years to pay back.
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Another method is to Consolodate all debts through this same company or through another Bank ( but they caharge interest).
Just some options to put out their.