Teresa wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked me her question below. You can write me for help also. Visit GetOutOfDebt.org.
“Dear Steve,
I have too many credit cards. Where do I start to get rid of them?
Teresa”
The Answer:
Dear Teresa,
Credit cards don’t magically appear in our wallets or purses. They appear because we have done something or participated in some process to agree to these credit instruments.
The first step to get rid of your credit cards is to do a financial autopsy and figure out what your actions were that led to you getting so many cards up till this point. Unless you can develop some awareness about that you are bound to repeat the same steps again.
You have three approaches to paying off the cards. The first would be to pay them in full. Second would be to adopt a debt snowball approach. Third would be to enter a credit counseling program if you are struggling but can afford to pay about 80% of the minimum payment you are making now.
And then once you start to pay off cards, you should keep your oldest credit cards open to help bolster your credit report and credit score. Don’t close those oldest cards, they carry a lot of positive weight to pumping up your credit score.
Once you start to follow this approach and you can come back and provide me with more information I’ll gladly help you further.
The Answer: