If you have credit card debt, it is definitely important that you make paying it off a priority. However, how you pay it off is just as important as when. Below are the top five mistakes we all make when struggling with debt. Learning what mistakes to avoid from the beginning should help you deal with your debt and avoid ruining your credit score in the process.
Mistake #1: Canceling Your Credit Cards Out of Frustration
You are at or even over your limit on all of your credit cards, and instead of simply destroying them you call your credit card companies and cancel every single card. This is a great solution to stop spending, but could cause great harm to your credit score. Canceling all of your credit cards (and sometimes even just one) sends a big red flag to the credit bureaus that says you can’t handle credit. While you are overwhelmed now, canceling your cards isn’t the answer. Instead, call your credit card companies and ask them to set you up with a payment plan. Get under your limit, but don’t zero out your cards. If you can maintain a balance that is no more than 25% of your credit limit, your credit score will improve.
Mistake #2: Consolidating Your Debt
Paying one large bill has to be better than paying many smaller bills, right? For some people, absolutely; however, if you can avoid this do so at all costs! Fees are normally charged up front for services (adding to your current mound of debt), and companies can freeze your credit card and banking accounts. Worse yet, your credit report will reflect “third party assistance” when ran during the time you are using a debt consolidation service. If you need to pay off your credit card bills with one monthly sum, consider using the “waterfall” method of payment.
With this method, you choose a lump sum like $500 per month that you want to pay. You then take your card with the highest balance or highest interest (this is based on your priorities), and use the majority of your $500 per month toward that bill. You then put a portion of that toward your next highest priority card, a smaller portion to the third priority, and so on. Once you pay off your highest priority card, you add what you were paying toward that card to your second priority card. This allows you to pay off your cards quickly without skipping one card payment to cover another.
Click to continue »