And it's not just those of us in paid employment that are running up our credit card debt. Facts show that even students and the unemployed are increasing the amount they owe.
So what can we do about this situation? Well the first thing to recognize is that we are all responsible for our own borrowing. That being the case we can start to take steps to reduce the amount of money that we owe and also the amount we have to pay out each month.
Think of it this way; Credit cards are not "bad", just like anything else they have plusses and minuses. Ok the minuses include horrendously high rates of interest but on the other side of the coin they can be invaluable in emergencies. Just don't use them as long term loans because they were never designed for that kind of borrowing.
If you are finding that you have outstanding balances of two, three or more credit cards you will probably be well advised to look into taking out a debt consolidation loan. This will enable you to spread your borrowing over a fixed period of time. It will also ensure that you are paying a much, much lower rate of interest than you would be paying on your cards.
By shopping around you can usually find some very good deals available from the major lenders. And don't forget to try and haggle down the rate you are offered. Tell them you have a better deal on the table across the street. You'll be surprised just how much things can change with a little bit of competition.
Of course if you've got poor credit things might not be quite so simple. And if that is the case maybe the best thing would be you for you to talk to a licensed debt counsellor or visit a bill consolidation service to get some idea of how you can reduce your monthly commitments.
The important thing is to take action and stop yourself becoming one of those credit card debt facts!
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