Reducing the Debt on Your Credit Cards

Many Americans have the problem of spending more money on their credit cards, than they bring in each month. What this causes is an increase in debt because, when you can't pay all of the original balances on your credit card bills, they begin adding up in interest very quickly. Before you know it, you are thousands of dollars into credit card debt and are having a terrible time trying to find your way out of it; but, there is a way to stop this before it happens. The best route out of this situation is to find ways to decrease the amount of money that you spend on your credit cards, so that you do not end up in this kind of debt situation again.

Firstly, you need to find out how much extra income is going out, as opposed to how much is coming in. This means taking all of your bills, including money for food, gas, and other things that you buy on the side, and deducting that from your monthly income. If the number you get is negative, something needs to be done to get your situation under control before you get any further into credit card debt. You should start by determining what extra expenses are in your life that you really don't need. This includes premium cable channels, or even cable itself, unneeded cell phone plans (this can be especially important if every single member of your family has their own plan), and other non-necessities that you spend a significant amount of money on each month.

Once you have discovered where your downfalls lie, it is time to start correcting them so that you can spend less money on your credit cards each month. First, go through and determine which of these non-necessities are used least. For example, if your household has every cable channel available, but no one in your family is ever home, it may be a good idea to downgrade to a basic cable plan. This way you still have options when you are home, while not wasting all that money on something that no one is ever home to watch anyway. This also goes for cutting out any additional cell phone bills that are not needed. If your children have cell phone plans, it is best to get them the minimum amount of plans they have or, better yet, a pre-paid phone, so that they can only spend so many minutes and then, if they want more, they have to buy them. You may even want to consider getting them one of those "kiddie" phones if they are under the age of 14 or 15.

If you are in a situation where money is really tight and there are no real "extras" -- like those that we have already mentioned -- that you are putting on your credit cards, it may be time to find ways to cut down on unnecessary living expenses. This can include cutting coupons for groceries, not hitting the fast food restaurant as often, and doing little things like turning off the TV or light when you leave a room. Even though they seem like little tiny things, they do at up -- so much so that they can put up to $100 or more in your pocket every month, just for cutting out these things that you once deemed "necessities".

The more you are able to successfully cut out of your everyday activities, the more money you can spend on decreasing old credit card debt; instead of creating new credit card debt month after month, which then gets piled onto this old debt. Once you start to see your credit card debt significantly decrease, it will give you the motivation you need to carry on.