Like something? Buy it with your credit card – the latest Gucci handbags or scrumptious dinner at a very fancy restaurant.
Reached the credit limit on one card? Not to worry, you have a lot of credit cards to buy more clothes or diners.
Spend now, pay later.
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You only realize how much you have spent once the credit card bill arrives. What if at that point of time you don’t have money to pay it back? The debt keeps mounting month over month. Collection officers from credit card companies hound you with calls – when will you pay us back? Your expenditure has way exceeded you income and you have no way to pay back the debt. So what do you do now?
Don’t lose hope completely. You still have a few options. Credit card debt is growing at an alarming rate in our society today. There are quite a few credit card debt settlement companies available which can guide you as to how you can repay your debt.
Credit card debt settlement company to your rescue
Credit card debt settlement companies negotiate with credit card companies get into an agreement where a certain percentage of the debt is waived off or the interest rate on the debt is lowered.
There have been known instance where credit card debt settlement companies have gotten up to 50% of the debt amount waived off from the credit company. It depends completely on the negotiating skills of the credit card debt settlement company as well as the influence they have on the credit card issuer/company.
However one small thing is that you have to save some money before you can go to these credit card debt settlement companies. This money will be obviously less than the amount that you have to repay. But this amount will give the credit card debt settlement company a point of leverage to begin their talks with the credit card issuer/company.
The debt settlement process
Once a small part of the loan amount has been paid off, the credit card debt settlement agency will arrange so that you repay a certain amount of money every month. This will help you repay the loan, a small amount at a time. This is a long term plan which can take up to 3-5 years for the loan repayment. The risk here is that debtors often cannot sustain this plan for such a long time. They may not be able to give up that certain amount every month from their income. This can aggravate the situation further.
Credit card debt settlement company or DIY?
Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The credit card debt settlement company will take some money from you for their efforts. Typically, what they do is that they take a small commission from the amount of debt they have gotten reduced for you.
If you don’t want to pay any company this commission, you can of course try to negotiate with the credit card company yourself. Your success rate will again depend upon your negotiation skills – you may get as much amount waived off from your debt as a professional credit card debt settlement company. To avoid further mental pressure of having to negotiate with credit card companies, it is better to let professionals do the job.
Getting professional service is often better than facing shame of bankruptcy. As you start repaying your debts in small amounts, your credit records start improving. Since, credit record is the biggest factor in deciding whether you will get a loan (or even a job) or not, you need to ensure that you maintain a good credit record.
Of course, the best advice is to exercise certain restraint when it comes to spending, if you know that you won’t be able to pay back the money. However, if you do fall into the debt trap, it is best to search for options like the credit card debt settlement companies which will help you get out of it and resume normal life.