Reducing Credit Card Debt

A serious financial problem people face today is credit card debt. The interest rates on most credit cards are very high. Many are over 20% apr. Reducing credit card debt can be difficult when all you can do is pay the minimum fees each month. If you find yourself in this situation it could take years to pay off those credit cards!

One of the ways to reduce credit card debt is to lower the interest rates of your credit cards, but to continue making the same payments on those cards as you did before your rate reduction. This will enable you to pay down more on the principal balance of your credit cards.

How do you go about getting your creditors to reduce your credit card rates?
The first thing you need to do is find several credit card companies that offer a lower interest rate on balance transfers. You don’t have to apply for them- you just need to let your current creditors know they have some competition for your business.

Do your research and explore your options. Look for credit card companies online with the lower interest rates, make note of them so you can refer to them later. Now you will need to make a few phone calls. Call each of your creditors and tell them this, in your own words.

“Hello, I have the opportunity of reducing my credit card debt by transferring my balance to some of your competitors that are offering lower interest rates on balance transfers. For instance, _____________, _____________, and ______________, are offering ______ interest rate on balance transfers that is currently ________ percent lower than what I am receiving on this card. Would you be willing to give me this rate so I do not need to transfer my balance?”

You can change this script to reflect the information that you find.  The key factor is to do the research and then present it to each credit card company that you use currently. You may not be able to get every company to comply, but for every bank that does, you’ll see that reducing credit card debt is not as hard as you think.  You will also find that many credit card companies will waive their annual fee as well.  There is no need to pay for the privilege of having their credit card.

Once you’ve lowered your credit card interest rates, make sure you continue to pay more than the minimum payment required. This will help you to keep your goal of reducing your credit card debt.

Stop Your Creditors from Calling

Have you resorted to screening your calls each time the phone rings? Perhaps you’ve even been embarrassed at work because of creditors contacting you there.

If you cringe when the phone rings because you don’t know how to stop creditors from calling, take heart, there is a very simple solution. It’s legal and it works. There is federal legislation that protects a consumer’s rights to privacy and from harassment by debt collectors. When the collection agency’s attorneys call, our fear of legal action against us can make us feel as though we have to put up with these stressful calls.

Wouldn’t it be nice to stop creditors from calling? You’re already stressed because of your current financial situation. You don’t need to become unraveled each time the phone rings. It’s time to stop creditors from calling.

The first thing you need to get is the address of the collection agency. It won’t do you any good to write your creditor. Most creditors sell the account to a collection agency after a set amount of time. Then it becomes the collection agency that is calling you if your payments are three or four months overdue. If this is the case, you’ll need to make sure you have the address of the collection agency in order to stop them from calling.

This is probably the most difficult part of this solution. You’ll understand why as soon as you see what is it you need to do to stop creditors from calling.

Okay, are you ready? You won’t even have to take notes for this one. You don’t need to copy anything down or learn a tightly drafted phone script. All you need to do is write a letter telling each creditor that you do not want them to contact you by phone any longer.

Yep. That’s it. Oh, well, you might want to add that you don’t want them to call at work either, but all you really need to stop creditors from calling is to write to them and request that all further contact be made by mail.

Some people say to tell them you don’t want them to call any longer by phone. However, this is a waste of time as most creditors will argue with you and continue to harass you. The best way is to ask for the address of where you can send a payment, type your request and mail it ASAP. This is 100% effective.

You’re probably wondering why I say to ask for the address in order to send a payment. The reason is because collection agencies are very savvy to the laws. They know that if you mail them a letter requesting them to stop, they must comply. So, many times they will do everything they can to collect from you without giving up their physical address. They might ask for a post dated check or payment by phone. That’s it. You’re done!

Just so you know, collection agencies can call you if the status of your account changes. This includes letting you know that they are going to sue you. However, they cannot make this statement as a threat to collect a debt. This is illegal. Most creditors and collection agencies won’t sue for unsecured debts as it is not financially productive.

Stop creditors from calling by putting it in writing. Simple, easy, direct.