The Personal Finance Blog

Paying off debt isn’t always an easy task to accomplish. There are certain steps you need to take initially to determine when or if paying off debt is a realistic possibility with your current financial status. To determine if you’re able to pay off your debt as it stands - this means without incurring more debt or resorting to alternative financing methods - take these three steps:

Step #1: List all of your credit cards, including your outstanding balance, your interest rate, and the minimum payment percentage and the minimum payment according to your latest statement. Yes, this could be painful and may strike a chord of panic in your chest. Don’t worry. This is the first step to gaining control of your finances and getting your credit back on track, and it is absolutely necessary.

Step #2: Add up the minimum payments for all of your cards. This means if you have five credit cards, what minimum balance do you owe on each and what is the total of your minimum balances?

Step #3: Create a budget. Yep, this can sound like a scary word, but a budget will tell you exactly what you have to spend each month and how much you have to pay off your credit card balances. To determine if you’re able to pay off debt with your current financial conditions, list the total minimum balance of all your credit cards as a regular monthly expense. When you’ve completed your budget, do you have enough left over to tackle paying off the credit card with the highest interest rate? This means paying the monthly minimum which is already figured in your expenses and paying more money on top of that amount. The more you can pay off, the better.

If the answer is that you don’t have enough to pay extra on your highest credit card account your next option is to consider refinancing your home or taking out a home equity loan. This means you’re borrowing against the equity of your home and thereby reducing the amount of your home that you actually own. You can also open up a home equity line of credit. The benefit to doing this is that your interest rate is going to be much less than what your credit cards are charging you. The downside is that you will own less of your home and that there are always fees associated with borrowing money. Also, if you don’t cut up your credit cards but you continue to use them, then you’re simply increasing your debt.

So while there are obvious benefits to this type of debt solution, there are also some drawbacks, and a home equity loan or refinancing shouldn’t be a decision that you make lightly.

See also: Credit Card Debt Relief

credit credit card credit card debt credit improvement debt management debt reduction

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