Credit cards are great, aren’t they? They give so much flexibility and allow you to buy things even when you don’t have the available cash. The more you spend, the higher they raise your limit. The more cards you have, the more offers you get from other companies. Spend, spend, spend without a care in the world.

Until one day you realize that you’ve spent too much. The monthly credit card bills have arrived and you don’t know how you’re going to pay them all. Even by paying the minimum amount due, you won’t bring your debt down by much, because you’re only paying off interest and not really touching the underlying balance. What do you do?

The first thing you need to do is take stock of the situation. Don’t just push the bills aside and say you’ll deal with them later; that’s not going to solve the problem and will likely make it worse.

First things first - stop using your credit cards! You’ll never get them paid off if you keep on using them. Whatever it is you wanted to buy can wait until you’re out from under that mountain of paper you’ve created.

Next, take a close look at things you buy on a regular basis that you can really do without. Eat breakfast at home and forego that muffin on the way to work. Pack your lunches and take them to work with you, instead of going out every day. Cut back on the number of designer coffees you buy, even if it’s just one per day. Spend more time at home in the evenings, invite friends over for dinner or watch movie, rather than going out in the evenings.

It’s tough to give up enjoyable things that have become a part of your usual routine, but it’s a necessary step towards eliminating your debt.

Organize your bills in order from lowest balance due to highest. Put the lowest to one side and pay the minimum balance due for every other card. It won’t bring your debt down by much, but it’s a start and will keep the creditors at bay for another month.

Calculate the amount of money you’ll save by making all those lifestyle cutbacks and put it all towards paying the smallest credit card bill. If you’ve cut back enough, you should be able to make a fairly substantial dent in the one bill.

Once the lowest bill has been paid off completely, you can start on the next lowest bill. Each month, your debt will become lower, freeing up more cash with which to pay off bigger chunks of your debt. That, in turn, will further reduce your debt, freeing up even more cash for the next month’s bills.

When you’re down to the final bill and have enough available cash to pay off the last of the debt, you’ll be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Just remember not to start the cycle all over again by going on a spending spree with your newly paid-off cards. Buy what you need, with only small splurges for special occasions. Stay strong and be firm with yourself, so you don’t end up back where you started.

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