One of the best places to start when tackling credit card debt for the purpose of debt relief is to create some form of budget calculator or some form of financial planning device. This can be a great way to understand income vs expenses, while brushing up on your money management skills.
While there are many budget and money management apps out there these days, these are often incomplete, or missing the insights of trained professionals that are capable of helping you navigate debt consolidation through the sometimes subtle nuances of payment cycles and strategy.
A New Way to Understand The Debt Relief Process
With that in mind, Golden Financial Services recently rolled out a couple new ways to help you tackle daily expenses with a straight forward debt review process! The budget calculator can help with car loans and credit card debt, and our new snowball calculator details how to pay off debt (if you’re looking to understand your total debt before comparing it to your budget, click here).
Snowball payments work by paying off the credit card debt with the smallest balance first, followed by the next smallest balance, and as you pay off each card, you start accruing extra cash flow. This is known as snowball debt payments, helping your credit score improve, while also helping you save towards retirement as the national social security fund begins to disappear. The budget calculator and the snowball calculator work hand-in-hand to help you conceptualize your goals and get moving towards accomplishing them!
One final method is detailed here:
One of the most effective ways to get out of debt is by choosing to make payments in one of either the snowball or avalanche methods. This method fights the instincts to pay over your minimums on all cards for the purpose of paying more towards the principal balance. Even if you understand that paying the principal down saves money on interest because interest is compiled in each pay period, that doesn’t mean you should spread it around! Putting all of your extra cash flow or funds into the principal of one credit card first will ultimately help you pay off your debt faster. It also adds security for a rainy day because you now have a credit card with more than usual space on it compared to your others.
If you are already behind a couple payments on multiple credit cards, you might want to look into credit card debt relief programs that will help you with interest rate reduction while plotting a course to get you out from under crippling late fees and credit score adjustments.
How Debt Settlement Differs from Debt Relief
Different from relief programs are debt settlement programs, where a compromise between you and your creditors is made. You will receive a reduced amount to pay back, but there are strings attached. We detail those to help you, so you have a firm understanding of how to manage this solution!
As you can see, Golden Financial Services is your one-stop-shop for all debt relief related information and assistance.
Let’s see what the experts can do to help you! You can speak with an IAPDA Certified debt relief counselor at 858-605-6196 for free.