DEBT REDUCTION STRATEGIES:

HOW INTEREST PAYMENTS

KEEP YOU IN DEBT

By: Dan Cavalli

Let’s say Janie has a credit card with a $2,000

balance and an APR of 20% (the rounded numbers are for simplicity). Janie’s interest payment for the month would be $33, but her minimum payment is only $40.

She pays the $40 and does not use her credit

card for the next month. When the next statement comes, Janie will owe $1960. Again, she is charged $32.67 in interest and her minimum payment is $40. Janie has paid nearly $66 dollars in interest just in two months, but her balance has barely budged

If you are struggling beneath a mountain of debt, it can seem like you will never see the light of day again. You make payments month after month, but the balances never seem to go down. You send $50 to your credit card company only

to find that your balance only came down enough for you to buy a pair of flip flops, not the designer kind. I’m talking the $5 variety. You pay $700 to your mortgage company, but the amount you owe is just $60 less.

What!?! You’ll never get ahead at this rate.

Interest is to blame for both of these scenarios as well as a hundred others. Once you buy something on credit, it can end up costing you 25, 50 to 100% more than what is on the price tag. For this reason, many debt reduction strategies focus on eliminating interest as a way to reduce monthly payments and overall debt.

Worse yet, once her balance

goes down, the credit card company will reduce her minimum payment to ensure that they keep her in the cycle of debt. Debt reduction is

most successful when these needless interest payments are eliminated. You can do this by consolidating high-interest debt into a low-interest loan. This is the best option since it eliminates a huge portion of your interest payments instantly.

Why is interest so nasty? Part of the reason why

interest is so damaging to your budget is that it prevents you from paying down your balances as illustrated by the previous examples.

You see, interest is calculated according to what you owe. The following

slide about credit card

example will put it all

into perspective:

If you can’t take out a loan, you can eliminate interest by paying more than the amount that is on your statement.

If you don’t have any money

to make extra payments, talk

to your creditors to get your

interest rate lowered.

Even if you can afford to pay

more, it is not a bad idea to

ask for a lower rate.

If, for any reason, your minimum payment

amount is lowered, continue to pay the amount that you are accustomed to. It will only help you get out of debt quicker. Once you get balances paid down, do not run them up again.

Learn to pay for things without credit, and you will find that you have more money in your pocket because you won’t be wasting it on senseless interest payments.

Dan Cavalli is noted by the AustNewspaper The Financial Review as one of Australia's Internets Untold Millionaires. He teaches people how to build businesses extraordinarily fast, make money, get rid of debt and turn money worries into infinite sources of cash. Get his famous introductory 20 FREE lessons eCourse about Making Money that over 179,000 people have studied and applied at: http://www.the-richest-man-in-babylon.com

Also, visit my primary blog to get your

updated latest strategies and

techniques for personal development

and money making

strategies at

http://www.startingabusinessnow.com