If you are up to your ears in credit card debt, life can become very difficult; it makes you feel as if you were drowning in a sea of debt. However, if this is the situation in which you find yourself, don’t lose hope… because there are strategies which will help you. If you consolidate credit card debt, it can help to reduce your debts quickly. Also, it is not enough to consolidate credit card debt, rather the manner in which you consolidate credit card debt must also be sensible, otherwise you risk losing even more money in the long run!

1. By Dermot Farrell
Copyright © 2012
http://www.creditcarddebtsecrets.org
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org

2. If you are up to your ears in credit card debt, life can become very difficult; it
makes you feel as if you were drowning in a sea of debt. However, if this is the
situation in which you find yourself, don’t lose hope… because there are strategies
which will help you. If you consolidate credit card debt, it can help to reduce your
debts quickly. Also, it is not enough to consolidate credit card debt, rather the
manner in which you consolidate credit card debt must also be sensible, otherwise
you risk losing even more money in the long run!
What Does it Entail to Consolidate Credit Card Debt?
First off, let’s start by considering the option to consolidate credit card debt. The
two aspects of credit card debt which are binding you in a web of unpaid bills, are
the debt principle and the double digit interest rates. While a large principle is
difficult enough to deal with, for most debtors, it is the double digit interest rates
which raise up the credit card debt repayments. When you consolidate credit card
debt you manage to bring down this interest rate to a considerable degree, which
will help to give you your life back.
Let’s look an example here…
If a credit card debtor owes $20,000 on their credit cards, and the average rate of
interest work out at 18%, the total payment will work out at a total of $35,175
over 84 months (this is presuming minimum repayments only). Whereas if they can
reduce this interest rate down to 12% then the total amount will work out to be
only $23,915, which is a saving of 31%!
So there is no question about it, the option to consolidate credit card debt works,
however, it is vital to consolidate credit card debt in a sane way!
How to Consolidate Credit Card Debt Sanely
While credit card debt consolidation is a really good debt reduction option, it is
important to consolidate credit card debt in way which works for you and your
unique set of circumstances.
For instance, some of the many apparent credit card debt consolidation methods,
such as credit card debt consolidation loans, zero interest or low interest credit
card balance transfers, and even additional credit cards, appear good, but they
don’t deliver in the long run!
Why are these bad?
In the case of a credit card debt consolidation loan, it is loan and has to be paid
back. So if you default on it then you have one more unpaid loan.
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org

3. Indeed because credit card debt consolidation loans give the impression that your
debts are lower than they are. Far too many debtors take out these loans only to
go on adding debt onto their credit cards. Because they rack up debts they find
that quite quickly, whatever breathing space they received under the consolidation
loan, quickly disappears. And now they have to pay back the loan and the new
credit card debts!
With zero balance, or low interest rate introductory offers, the offer ends quickly
and is always replaced by a high interest rate. So once again while apparently
these are consolidation tactics, in reality they are simply delaying tactics. Once
the low interest period ends, reality settles back in and the debtor goes shopping
for yet a new card or offer.
However, pretty soon they have run out of options. Of course by this stage they
possess extensive debts across a wide range of platforms, from credit card debts to
consolidation loans to overdraft facilities and so on. Once they reach the end of
their credit options they are left in the lurch not knowing how to pay back their
debts!
Importantly, with all of these apparent debt consolidation tactics, the end result is
that they only bring on more debt and drag out the repayment period!
While credit card debt consolidation is a good idea, the only sane way to do so is in
such a way that it involves responsibility on your part, whereby you understand
that the process of adding new debts must come to a standstill. There has to be a
strategic effort made to clear the credit card debts once and for all.
For most debtors this option, to consolidate credit card debt, will involve signing
up with a debt relief company. However, for some debtors it will involve them
negotiating directly with their creditors. Both credit card debt options are good, as
long as you take the time out to examine which of these credit card debt
consolidation options is right option for you!
The Secret Behind Credit Card Debt – Copyright 2012 – http://www.CreditCardDebtSecrets.org