| By :
Molly Wider
Do you wake up at 3:00 a.m., worrying about how you're going to pay your bills? Or maybe you're not paying your bills at all. Maybe you're just shuffling them around-paying one debt by creating another-usually using a credit card (or four, or five, or six of them) to bail you out. A bit of a merry-go-round, isn't it. But your life does not have to be that way. There are alternatives to the nightmare of ongoing credit card debt. So you can get a good night's sleep. First things first. Take out your credit cards. Do it with your partner or spouse, if they've got cards too. Even get the kids in on it. Make it a family challenge. Then, cut every card up. Yup. Gulp. Take a deep breath, and just do it. Including, by the way, your debit or cash card. From here on in, you're paying with real green and green alone (that's the colour of cash, by the way, if you've forgotten) for every purchase you make. Next step. Go through every credit card bill, and every bank statement, and add up only these fees for the past 30 days: 1. How much have you been charged just for exceeding your credit card limit-not the interest you're also being charged-on every card you carry (you know you're over on every one of them) 2. How much have you been charged for exceeding your chequing account limit-that is, drawing on the overdraft (or is your credit so bad, your cheques are just flat-out bouncing-then add up those charges) 3. How much has the bank charged you for exceeding your allotted number of debit card withdrawals this month ('cause you know you use that baby like there's no tomorrow). What's the scary total? Don't pass out; congratulate yourself. Because you've moved to cash-only purchases, you've just subtracted that amount from monthly mounting debt. See how much free cash you've suddenly discovered? Now. Make a list of every debt you have, credit cards, in-store accounts, rent-to-own agreements, you name it. List every one of them. List the highest interest debts first. Those are the ones you're going to pay off first, using the money you're no longer spending on overdrafts and exceeding your credit card limit. See how that works? Still not enough? Consider your assets. If your debt is that bad, you need fast action. Think about using your car, or truck, or whatever you drive, to get a car title loan. It can help you get a jump on those bad credit cards, and help you get your debt repayment under control. Instead of paying high interest rates on three, or four, or more credit cards, you can pay one easy monthly installment. Right now maybe your credit is so bad you think you couldn't even qualify for a car title loan. But that's the best part. A car title loan is especially developed for people like you with bad credit, low credit scores, or even bankruptcy. It works because you use your car-if it's less than eight years old and you own it-as collateral against the money you borrow. And, because you've qualified for a loan, and make regular payments, it can help you improve your credit score, and get you back on the very merry-go-round of good credit. And back to sleep at night.
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