Ways to Pay Down Your Debt

Paying down your debt is a great way to improve your FICO score and to improve your qualify of life. However, for many people, paying down their debt seems impossible. Fortunately, there are several simple steps that you can take that will help you to pay down your debt. Ways to Pay Down Your Debt No. 1 - A Little Extra Helps. The first way that you can pay down your debt is to add a little bit to your normal monthly credit card payments. By adding $5, $10 or $15 a month to the minimum monthly payments for your credit cards, you will be able to pay down the balance much faster. The more you can add to your monthly payments the faster you will be able to pay down your credit cards. To maximize the benefits of this strategy, you will want to focus on adding extra money to the payments that are applied to your credit cards that have the highest interest rates. Ways to Pay Down Your Debt No. 2 - Dedicate an Income Source to Paying Down Your Debt. The second way you can pay down your debt is to get a second job or find an income source that you can dedicate to paying down your debt. For example, you can take on a paper route that pays $500 a month. After taxes you will have about $425 to apply to your debt balances. This can make any amazing dent in your debt in just one or two years. If you don't want to take a second job, then consider starting an at home business, start recycling or have a garage sale. Ways to Pay Down Your Debt No. 3 - Use Your Tax Refund. If you are expecting a tax refund this year, then apply that to your debt balance. This can be a quick and easy way to reduce your debt by several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Even using part of your tax refund to pay down your debt is better than doing nothing. Ways to Pay Down Your Debt No. 4 - Negotiate With Your Creditors. Another way that you can reduce the amount of debt that you have quickly is to negotiate with your creditors for a discounted pay off amount. This option is good for people who have some money available right now that they can use to pay off one or two accounts if they are discounted by 50 percent or more. Many creditors who are on the verge of writing off an account will offer a discounted pay off. If you can afford to accept this kind of offer then do it. However, keep in mind that any deviation from the original pay back agreement will most likely be viewed by new creditors in a negative way and will reflect on your credit score. Check out your free credit report online and see if you are in need of credit repair. Financial directory