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May 7, 2004:
Taking
Care Of Your Finances
Interview
with Suze Orman author of The
9 Steps To Financial Freedom
Mike
Carruthers:
If like many people you have credit card debt, and you'd like
to get rid of it ...
Suze
Orman:
The two key components in getting rid of credit card debt is
always pay more than the minimum, and getting the absolute lowest
interest rate possible that you can get.
Suze Orman,
author of the book The
9 Steps To Financial Freedom...
Ten more
dollars per month on an $1100 credit card balance you will reduce
that time that you normally pay that $1100 at an 18% interest
rate from 12 years down to 6 years. From $2700 possibly by another
$700. So $10 more a month can seriously affect the amount of
interest you pay and the time that you have to pay it.
And Suze
says you have to adopt a strategy to get rid of your credit
card debt.
The way
you deal with credit card debt is head-on, you call your credit
card company before they call you, and you ask them to either
lower your interest rates, or work out a payment plan with you,
or to do something that you feel that you are in control. You
start telling your friends how much credit card debt you have,
rather than hiding behind the fact you have not paid that you
still go out to eat with them, cause you want to pretend like
everything's o.k., and you're sick to your stomach the entire
time you're sitting at the restaurant. Just say, "I can't
currently afford to go out to dinner with all of you cause I
have credit card debt". If you start being a powerful person
over your debt, you'd be surprised at how that debt starts to
go away.
At somethingyoushouldknow.net,
I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.
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