Credit Card Debt Help

Ever hear of indentured servitude? It's a historical concept that means you're basically working for free to pay off some obligation (like a share cropper). Ever just make your minimum credit card debt payments every month and feel like you are just spinning your wheels? Sometimes the two seem eerily similar.

There are millions of Americans who need credit card debt help now more than ever. With over $2 trillion of revolving consumer debt, and over $60 billion of credit card debt getting "charged off" as uncollectible every year, it just seems like the magnitude of the credit card debt epidemic keeps growing, gobbling up more and more American families every day. So what can you do and where should you turn to get credit card debt help? Looking in the mirror is a good place to start.

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Folks need to curb love affair with debt

IN A RECENT online discussion, I received a question about a problem that plagues many people. It has to do with the Joneses, or rather, the ubiquitous family name used to refer to the friends, family, co-workers or neighbors we try to emulate with our own purchases.

Intellectually, we know it's wrong to want to keep up with the Joneses. In an economic downswing like the one we're having now, we learn that the Joneses aren't really so well off themselves. Their accumulation of bling has made them as broke as anyone else. And yet it's still hard to watch others amass stuff without feeling envious. Or worse, it can make you feel like a financial failure by comparison.

That's what one person was feeling when she wrote to me during the chat. She opened with: "Michelle, I need you to smack me on the head, PLEASE."

I liked the use of all caps for "please." It meant she knew the answer but just needed confirmation.

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Contest takes swipe at credit card debt

The Service Employees International Union, never shy in its criticism of credit card issuers, announced Wednesday a video contest for students who want to spread the union's manifesto.The contest is called Keep It In Your Pants, as in Keep Your Credit Card in Your Pants. The union is trying to draw attention to what it calls "Debt Disease" among young people. "You can't tell if someone has it ... It only takes one time to catch it," the union says in a statement, by way of attracting contestants.

College students are vulnerable to credit-card debt, the union said, since banks market heavily to them. "Including the nation's largest bank by deposits, Bank of America," the union said, singling out the Charlotte bank.

The video contest is open to students in middle school, high school, college and grad school.

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Eliminate Credit Card Debt

(ARA) - You've heard the old adage, pay down your credit card debt each month to avoid the nasty interest rate charges and fees that result from revolving balances. But if you're like many of us, you need to carry a monthly credit card balance to pay for basic living expenses and emergency purchases. This is exactly what the credit card companies want you to do - it's how they make money! One thing you may not realize is that by simply making your minimum payments it will take you a long time to eliminate credit card debt. Moreover, what happens when this credit card debt becomes too great of a burden, when you can no longer afford to keep up with your monthly minimum payments? Or worse, what happens if you experience a period of unemployment, or are facing unexpected medical costs? The short answer is that credit card companies still want and expect you to pay back your credit card debt.


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