How many options are there to settle your credit card debt? If you answered many, you’d be wrong. There is only one, and that one must come from you! Why? Because you are in the driver’s seat, believe it or not! How can this be? Read on…..
The fact of the matter is that if you have credit card debt, and you want to get it out of your life, YOU must set the perimeters. If you are worried about your credit score, and if you’ve already been late, that fact has already been reported by the credit card company. So your credit score is already dinged. But how much do credit scores mean? It turns out, not that much! The fact is that the credit card delinquency rate is hovering around ten percent. Ten percent! Even five years ago that figure would have been unimaginable, but because of the “perfect storm” situation with our economy, many people are having a very tough time of it. So if you’re one of those people, please don’t worry yourself sick anymore.
Here is a typical scenario: You have been making your credit card payments on time for many years, but soon the money woes began to crop up. So you might have even borrowed on one credit card to pay another, promising yourself that when your next check came in you’d pay back the original credit card you borrowed from. But that didn’t happen, because your car needed work. Does any of this sound familiar? It doesn’t matter what the money problems are or where they stem from, the fact is you have debt and need to get it our of your life, right? But how?
If you don’t pay your credit card, they will begin to call and hound you. Then after six months to a year, they will sell that debt to a collection agency. At this point, your credit score has already been reported, so you can forget what any debt relief agency tells you about “repairing” your credit, it doesn’t happen and it won’t! In fact, you are wasting your time and money with a debt relief agency. So what to do?
If you find yourself suddenly flush with cash and have a grieving heart about not paying your credit card debt but want to, then tell the collectors you’ll give them half. Believe me, they will take it! In fact, you could tell them you’ll give them ten percent and they’ll take it. Why? Because the original lender, the credit card company, is out of the picture. They have already written off the debt, so the money you give the collector is almost pure profit for them! They have only paid pennies on the dollar for the right to collect that debt, so that is why they are happy. That is how that works. But why pay them anything? Tell them not to bother you, which is your legal right, and don’t pay them one red cent. In fact, the best thing is not to have any communication with them at all! Forget about feeling guilty!
So the bottom line is, the only option is to learn from your mistakes, and not to get yourself in that situation ever again. Stop using credit cards! Cut them up, and use a debit card. Better yet, use cash. These cards are nothing but trouble, because many people can’t control themselves and end up in trouble. If you’re one of those people, you must turn over a new leaf and only buy what you can afford to buy. That means one thing and one thing only…IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE CASH ON YOU TO PAY FOR THE ITEM, DON’T BUY IT!