Building credit card debt is probably one of the easiest things you can do.
You sign up for a card and then just a single trip to the mall can add a heap of debt to the card.
Week after week and month after month your debt will begin to build.
It will build from two different angles.
First, it will build up from what you add to it.
Every time you charge to your card you are adding to the balance.
Second, on top of what you charge, as long as you have a balance, it will earn interest.
If you charge two thousand dollars to the card and you have an 18% interest rate, an extra $30 will be added that month.
The more it grows, the faster it grows.
If you've realized you have excessive debt that you need to eliminate, you are one step in the right direction.
It is great to hear that you are coming up with a plan to pay it off.
You could look for some help to come up with this plan from any of the several financial gurus.
They almost always have great advice.
Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey can both give you a concrete plan to pay it off.
But even the best of plans can be easily destroyed and abandoned.
Even the best of intentions can slip you up big time.
The first step to paying off your credit card debt is to come up with a plan.
Figure out what cards you'll pay first, how much you will pay to each, and so on.
In order to pay it off as fast as possible, as efficiently as possible, and as cheap as possible, you NEED to stop charging to your cards.
Every extra dollar you charge will pull you that farther from your goal.
You may be thinking, "Well, if I only spend what I can pay off this month, then why not just charge it?" First of all, if you can pay it all this month, then why can't you just pay for it in cash? Even the best rewards card won't offset the interest rate you already have.
Second, you probably won't pay it off each month.
You say you will, but you've probably said the same thing the last few months, so what's different now? You are only making it more difficult for yourself by charging.
And finally, you will not build up your credit by still charging.
I'm not telling you to cancel your cards, I'm just saying stop charging.
As you continue to make your payments on time for your credit card bills and other bills, this is when you'll be building up good credit.
So do one very important thing for me right now.
Take all your credit cards out of your wallet.
Do this after you've devised a plan.
Take all those credit cards and put them into a locked box, safety deposit box at a bank, or cut them up.
You don't need them anymore because you're never going to use a credit card again.