How to Eliminate Debt Without Extra Income

Business Services — By 88DB Knowledge on March 21, 2011 10:00 am

credit card debt

How to Eliminate Debt Without Extra Income

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Do you have $3,000 or more in credit card debt? Does it feel like you’re always paying the bills, but the debts never go away? It’s time to eliminate those pesky, high-interest credit cards, and here is a way to do it with no additional income.

Steps

Select the credit card with the smallest balance, as long as you pay a similar interest rate on it, when compared to other credit cards you may have.
Stop using this credit card. In fact, you should cut up the card.
Create a Debt-Killing Factor (DKF) — a monthly fund you will use only to pay off your credit card. A DKF is “free money.” It is money you saved from an expense you no longer have. For example, if your average gas bill for three months is $100, and it goes down to $75 in the fourth month, you now have $25 for your DKF. You were used to spending $100 on the gas bill, so after you pay the $75, you take the saved $25 and put it away for your credit card bill.
Apply your DKF to the minimum monthly payment on your credit card. So, if the minimum required payment is $60, and your DKF is $40, pay $100 on the credit card.
Even if your DKF for this first credit card changes, be sure to add something to the minimum payment every month.
When you pay off the first credit card, take the minimum payment you were paying each month, and add it to your DKF. So, if your Debt-Killing-Factor was $40 and the minimum payment was $60, you now have a new debt-killing-factor of $100.
Take your new DKF and add it to the minimum payment on a second credit card. This balance will disappear very soon.

Tips

Go to a credit card calculator site such as, Lenders Mark to learn how quickly you can eliminate credit card debt, using this method. You’ll also save thousands of dollars in interest payments.
There are many ways to create a monthly Debt-Killing-Factor. The key is to think of times you save money that you were willing to spend. Coupons, club memberships, utility bills and savings at the gas pump are just a few ways that people save, rarely putting that money to good use. Now, you know how to turn this “free money” into a debt-killing-machine.

Warnings

Never pay the minimum payment on a credit card. It can take up to 40 years to pay off some debts, when you pay only the minimum.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Eliminate Debt Without Extra Income. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.