credit card death

Over the years, my wife and I have gotten to the point where we now pay off our balance each month and never pay finance charges or late fees. It is a great position to be in, and one that I recommend to everyone. Of course, if *everyone* did this, credit card companies wouldn't have much of a future, now would they?

It definitely wasn't easy to pay off our debts. The first step is to stop spending. Evaluate all of the money coming in and going out, and determine what is necessary and what are impulse purchases. The impulse purchases need to be the first to go. Some people find that taking cash with you while shopping can assist in evaluating what you are spending when you go out, and can also help limit what you pick up (assuming that you don't take out the credit card to cover any overages). As I have mentioned in the past, you can also speak with one of those credit counseling agencies, who can often assist in getting credit card companies to lower their outrageous annual percentage rates. Yet another option which has grown in popularity recently is to consolidate your debt.

There are lots of places to find information on debt consolidation and how it can help those playing the "minimum payment" game with their credit card debt. One site that I noticed at PPP is called SecureLoanConsolidation.com and they specialize in assisting with Credit Card Debt consolidation.

Again, it isn't easy, and it may involve some major changes in your lifestyle, but eventually you will start to enjoy saving money as much (if not more) than spending it once you've managed to rewire your brain a bit.