Eradicate Student Credit Card Debt |
By Ashley Russell on February 1, 2011
.jpg.aspx) As soon as students approach the age of 18, credit card companies begin soliciting them in the mail. What teenager doesn’t want a flashy new piece of plastic that gives them free reign of hundreds of dollars? But how do you eliminate that credit card debt once you have incurred it?
Credit card companies do whatever they can to make students feel like they are getting a good deal. With promises such as, no consigner required, no annual fees, 0% APR on purchases, only for nine months though, and typically $500 credit with just a few clicks of the mouse.
What students do not read is the fine print. This nice 0% APR turns to 13.99% to 20.99% on a very well-known Discover Student Credit Card, after the nine month grace period that is promised.
After credit cards accrue interest, they can easily become unmanageable. There are a few different ways that students can go about getting in control of their money: debt consolidation loan, credit counseling, and debt settlement.
For the student that has many different small debts from separate cards or companies, debt consolidation is the answer. Debt consolidation allows the student to take out one single loan to cover all of these separate debts, and then the student makes one single payment a month. This simplifies everything, but this doesn’t replace debt it merely makes it easier to manage.
For the student that has problems with budgeting but still has time to recover without more serious intervention, credit counseling is the answer. Credit counseling works with students to teach them to manage their own credit cards and funds, so that they will be able to avoid any further expansion of debt. This will pay off in the long run when you learn how to make better financial decisions. Consequently, there are typically fees and the companies require students to make payments while they are in the program.
For the student that has serious debt problems and is falling many months behind in payments, debt settlement is the answer. Debt settlement companies work to negotiate a lower payoff of the total balance by reducing, or in some cases eliminating, students’ accounts of fees and charges. If students are candidates for this program, they have already done long-term damage to their credit score.
There are many different ways to approach credit card debt, but in the end it depends on each individual’s situation. Students should take the time to carefully examine their personal credit problems before choosing the right solution for them. |
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