Do you have credit card debt? This is something that can very easily get out of hand and credit card debt reduction should be something that you are always trying to accomplish. There are several things you can do to get your debt under control, besides not using your credit cards.

The past year’s economy has been a wake up call to many people. Individuals may be faced with unemployment or a salary reduction when they had been used to paying their bills every month. Because we cannot foresee everything that is going to happen, we need to be financially prepared by reducing our debt and building and emergency fund.

One of your first steps should be to contact your credit card companies and ask for an interest rate reduction. This alone can save you hundreds of dollars in your credit card debt elimination endeavor. Right now many credit card companies are making deals with the card holders to pay off their balances, but many of the lenders are also closing the accounts when they are paid off. You will have to decide if you can do without the account and in some cases; the choice may not be yours.

If you are only making minimum payments and it is not in your budget to pay more, you may want to consider credit counseling. Your will not change much, but there will be a significant interest rate reduction, you will have eliminated fees and you will have one payment each month. This can have your debt paid off in about 3-5 years, depending on what you owe.

Find extra money in your budget so that you can make larger payments. Many of us can eliminate or reduce the amount of money that we spend on expenses. Then there is the latte factor. These are thing such as eating out, magazine subscriptions, Starbucks coffee…well you get the idea. The flip side of the option is increasing your income. Find a way that you can make extra income. The more you have to put towards your payments each month, the faster you will see credit card debt relief.

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