If you’re seriously looking to conquer your credit card debt, then you need to explore steps you can take. From debt settlement to creating a budget, solutions are at hand. But which one to choose? Here’s what you need to know when it comes to eradicating credit card debt.

Assess Your Situation

It can be daunting, but you do need to take a clear-eyed view of your circumstances. Get all your bills, bank statements and other relevant material together and figure out how much you owe, to whom, and at what interest rates. Then, line up your debts and monthly expenses against your income.

Doing all this will help you decide what approach you should take to resolve your situation.

Get Your Spending in Order

When mulling how to get out of credit card debt, first things first. That means prioritizing your spending so that essentials such as food, clothing and shelter are covered. Then pay the minimum you can on secured debts such as your mortgage and car loan.

Establish a Budget

After your debts are prioritized, you need to create a budget. Doing so will assist you in tracking your spending, which will give you an improved handle on how to eat into your credit card debt.

Find Extra Cash

While you’re hewing to your budget, try to find ways to make additional money you can toss at your debts. Maybe you can turn a hobby into something that generates bread, get extra hours on your job, or sell household items. You also may want to get rid of things you can temporarily live without, such as a pricey cable package or gym membership.

Choose a Strategy

There are options for getting rid of credit card debt. Let’s look at some of the main ones.

• Debt consolidation. Here, you take out a personal loan to pay off your credit cards, leaving you with that one bill to concern yourself with. You’ll need good credit for such a loan, but if you can qualify, your payments will be streamlined, and you’ll save money, to boot. Check out credit card consolidation at bills.com.
• Debt settlement. With this approach, you hire a company like Freedom Debt Relief to see whether your creditors will go along with the idea of you paying less than what you owe, in a one-time payment in full, to “settle” each of your obligations. You’ve got a great shot, since the companies you owe know that if they turn you down your next stop will be bankruptcy, which may net them nothing.
• Avalanche method. This strategy has you paying off the cards with the highest interest rates first. You make minimum payments on each of your accounts except for the one with the highest rate. For that one, you pay the minimum in addition to any extra you can manage. Repeat the process until your debts are cleared.
• Snowball method. Using this method, you first pay off the plastic that has the smallest balance, then go up from there until you are debt free. Just be sure you’re making minimum payments on all your other cards while putting everything you can toward the one with the smallest balance.  

No matter which method – or methods, plural — you employ to eradicate credit card debt, you’re going to need loads of patience and persistence. After all, you didn’t get into such trouble overnight. The good news is that people do get out of debt. With the right program and attitude, you can become one of those people.