The stress caused by late credit card payments can be unrelenting. But there are options to get back on track.
1. Take a deep breath.
Before you can start work on even getting organized to address the debt, take a moment to gather yourself and breathe, take quick power nap, meditate, or do anything else that clears your head for a moment of the problems of payments on a credit card. Getting back on track is possible with a straightforward game plan and an honest look at your financial picture.
2. Know your current status.
Facing your late credit card payments, or even skipped payments starts with understanding your debt status. Spend some initial time just pulling together all of your paperwork and details on each debt account that you have. Sounds confusing? It does not need to be, especially since the cost of inaction is steep. Grab a sheet of paper or open a spreadsheet, and start listing each account. Write down each of the following: the company that manages the account, their contact phone number, the total amount owed on the account, and its interest rate. Call the company if you don’t have any of that information on hand.
3. Set up a basic system.
Can you set up a basic system to pay off the debt? Dealing with skipped or even late credit card payments can be clear. If the total debt amount is small over multiple accounts, use the snowball method or debt stacking and monitor your progress each month until it is eliminated. From where are you going to get the money to make the debt elimination payments each month? Set up a quick, rough budget and cut out the discretionary expenses until the debt is eliminated. If this still seems difficult to do, start researching how to lower your interest rates on the debt.
4. Identify Zero Percent Balance Transfer Options
Yet another strategy for dealing with late credit card payments exists. Research options online with which you can have your current credit card balances transferred at zero percent interest. Choose balance transfer options in which the time period during which the zero percent is active is long, ideally one year or more. Keep in mind that this can only be a temporary solution: an opportunity for you to aggressively pay down debt before the zero percent period expires. Be careful since these balance transfer options can include high interest rates after the zero percent period ends, can have initial fees associated with them. In the meantime, to avoid creating any future problems with payments on a credit card, stop using the plastic and better yet, cut up any zero percent balance transfer card you receive.
Raj Patel writes for DebtGoal.com, a do-it-yourself system for getting out of debt and lowering your interest costs. DebtGoal.com incorporates all of the techniques discussed in this post and can help users understand and get visibility to and manage their debt finances.
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