You might be surprised to read that according to various studies, that more than 63 percent of people that are determined to get out of debt, are attempting to do so, without any clear plan in mind.
They haven't really thought about how much they need to repay each month, or even set a target date for being debt free.
In view of the fact that you're reading this, the chances are that you're interested in different ways of getting out of debt, so let's look at three of them now.
The very first thing to do is to lower your interest charges, and you can mostly likely do that by simply calling all your creditors and asking them to lower the rates.
Believe it not, but it will probably be that simple, because studies show that more than 50% of people that call and ask credit card companies, and other lenders to lower their rates, get them lowered by up to a third.
Look around and see if there are things that you never use that you can sell, and after you've sold them, use the money to pay down some of your debts.
If your paperwork's not organized, then here's how to do it.
Buy some big envelopes, label them and have a separate one for each account, and put all the statements that you can find in them.
If you haven't got printed statements, then either ask your creditors to send them, on go online and download them. I know it's hard on the trees, but it's easier to work with paper that's in envelopes, than it is on a monitor.
If you know how to set up a spread sheet, then set one up now, showing your balances, APR, minimum payments and payment dates, and if you're not familiar with spread sheets, then just use good old pen and paper.
Then assemble a summary sheet, showing your total credit card spending, and total credit card debt.
If you've done all that, you should now know your total debt, your total monthly required payment, what you currently pay on your debt, and how much you charge each month on your cards.
The most successful debt payment plans start with an unchanging total monthly amount, and this is how to calculate how much you should pay.
Add up all the minimum amounts that you have to pay, and that is your starting figure. Now check your last two months of expenses and see if you can reduce them somehow, and if you can, then add the amount that you think that you can save to the starting figure.
Be conservative about how much you think you can pay each month, because it's better to start out with a lower amount and then raise it, than to start with a higher one, and then lower it.
We're now going to look at three different payment systems, and you should choose the one that suits your personality best.
The most efficient technique is to make the same payments on all your accounts with the exception of the one that has the highest interest rate. The "same payments" means that even when the card company asks for a smaller payment every month, that you continue paying them the same amount as before.
The card with the highest interest is the one that you should focus your attention on, and any extra money that you have, should be paid into that account.
The second system is similar to the above one, but instead of focusing on the account that charges the highest interest, you focus on the one with the lowest balance in order to get it paid off quickly.
The third system is the least complicated, and you simply pay the same amount on every card every month, and as one account gets paid off, you use the extra cash to raise the monthly amount that you're paying on all the accounts.
All three systems work as long as you stick with them, so just start using one of them as soon as possible, and start getting out of debt.
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The author of this article was a film producer, and award winning film sound editor for many years. He has a major interest and flare for economics, and one of his websites ->
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