Many people find themselves in a pile of debt and feel like they can’t get out of it.  They find themselves spinning their wheels not seeming to improve their credit score.  It is certainly much easier to get yourself into debt than it is to get out of debt.

By learning the proper tools you can get yourself out of debt and back to financial freedom.  Before you can start this path, however, you must take a look at your situation and ask yourself whether you are guilty of the following things.

You Are Paying Too Many Fees

If your debt is so high that all of your payments are just going towards your interest and fees, then you are never going to make any progress.  Consider looking into a debt consolidation program or a balance transfer with no interest for the first year.

That way you can pay off your debts with much lower fees and get out of your mountain of debt much sooner than if you continue paying your current rate of high interest.

You Keep Using Your Credit Cards

Many people pay their credit card payments due each month only to continue using their cards to make purchases.  This is counter intuitive since you are just spending what you are putting back into your debts.

When you find yourself with a large amount of debt to pay this means you need to stop using your cards completely and spend only what you actually have rather than borrowing.  Many people try various tricks to get themselves to avoid using their cards.  Such as putting their cards in the freezer, or keeping their cards at a friends house.  Whatever it takes to get yourself to stop, do it.  Feel free to get creative.

You Haven’t Created A Budget

If you haven’t set a designated amount that you commit to paying off each month then you can end up going in circles and end up paying whatever you can rather than a set amount which you agree on with yourself.

Try doing the math on how much income you make, what your expenses are, and how much you can afford to put into your credit cards. You will be surprised to find that with the right amount of self-control you can pay off your debts in a much shorter amount of time than flying by the seat of your pants financially.

You Aren’t Paying Enough

Paying the minimum amount due on your credit cards is ok when your funds are low.  But if you can afford it, you should be paying much more.  Otherwise, you will spend more in the long term on interest.