I’ve have had to deal with one
debt or another for most of my life but I have never let debt take control, I have always been in control. Once you have control of your debt you will never be in trouble. Those who are having trouble are those who have lost control of their debt.
The first thing you have to remember is to never borrow more than you can repay. Consider the repayments and make sure they are within your budget. Always allow for interest increases. I have friends who have borrowed the maximum they could because they could afford it at the time but were then in strife when the interest rates went up and the debt took over their lives.
Consider interest free loans. I bought a miele washing machine for my wife but rather than pay cash or put it on my credit card I took advantage of the 24 months interest free credit the store was offering.
Credit cards are sometimes a necessary evil but you have to be careful not to get carried away because they usually have such a high interest rate associated with them. Sometimes it is very advantageous to consider debt consolidation as this allows you to consolidate all your loans into one with a lower interest rate. Make sure you do your homework before deciding on the company you use. Check their credentials and read all the fine print.
Once your loans are consolidated, start a budget, stick to it and with time you will be debt free.
I disagree that credit cards are a necessary evil!! You can get everything you need with a debit card. If there’s a big ticket item you need, you can save for it, or if it’s an emergency, I suggest using the credit card but then getting a low interest loan from Prosper.com. There, people loan other people money (all the legal stuff is the same with a credit card, except big angry banks that don’t even speak American English anymore are not funding the loan) and the rates are muc better than the credit companies have to charge to pay for all their advertisements and wasted overhead.
If you’re interested, check out Prosper.com or check out my group on there at https://www.prosper.com/public/groups/group_home.aspx?group_short_name=Newberg . It’s called Newberg MicroLoans and I just started it to help people who need to pay off their credit cards or a smallish loan at rates much better than traditional lending.
Credit cards are great for those who know how to control debt, but for others they can be a terrible burden.