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For a while now, we've been a country driven by credit. So much so, that when we purchase items , we will without thinking offer to buy it with a credit card, even if we don't have to. As a consequence of this we have been slowly drawn further and further in debt to the credit card companies. It often occurs so gradually that we don't notice it until it's too late. We one day awaken and abruptly realise that we have accumulated thousands of dollars or more in credit card bills. And if not resolved, we can soon find ourselves working the rest of our lives paying interest on items we bought years ago. If you don't want to end up in that situation, you'd better come up with a plan to pay off your credit card bills today. Here are a few tips to help you.

The most important thing that you can do to reduce credit card debt is to stop adding on to it - now. The popular Will Roger's quote, "if you find yourself in a hole - the first thing to do is stop digging" very much applies here. Most people, if they stop to think before they buy something with a credit card will realize that it is something that they can probably do without. And if you are deep in depth, it's probably best to do without or figure out some other way to pay for it. If you continue to charge non-essential items on your credit cards, you are simply digging yourself deeper into debt.

Secondly, you need an organized method of paying off your debt. One of the best ways is to organize your credit card bills by interest, highest to lowest, and concentrate on first paying off the balance with highest rates. The majority of people in this country lack a basic understanding of interest rates and how important they are. A difference in an annual interest of a mere 1% can make a difference of thousands of dollars over the life span of your loan. But the even worst part is that you are paying off the loan in after tax dollars - money that you've already paid taxes on. So, if you pay $150 a month in interest on your credit card, and you are in the 25% income tax bracket, you had to actually earn $200 of income to make that payment. This deadly combination of taxes and high interest rates are perpetually working against anyone trying to pay off a large credit card debt. That's why it's urgently important to pay off the highest interest cards first. If you do this faithfully and continuously every month, you'll slowly begin to see the balance drop down off of that card.

It's possible that with your current income, you discover that there's no way that you can begin paying down your credit card debt. In this case, the best thing to do is to try to find a part time job with the intent of using all the money you bring in to pay off your credit card debt. It's true that working a part time job for six months or so will definitely put a strain on your time but it's a short term strain. The good thing, however, is that once you're done with your part time job you'll discover to your relief that your financial life has suddenly become far less stressful. With each card that you pay off you can breath a little easier because you no longer have to come up with the large sums of money to pay your monthly credit card bills.