Getting out of credit card debt can be seen as much like trying to pry yourself free of a pit of quicksand, with your only hope of escape a low-hanging vine in the form of a proper and dependable budget.
A proper budget has long been the key to a frugal and financially secure lifestyle.
And, in the case of credit card debt, a proper budget can mean the difference between financial solvency and the ever-looming threat of bankruptcy.
And the key to any budget is careful planning, constant maintenance and consecutive payments.
Stop Spending First, and most importantly, stop spending! When your debt reaches a critical point, you need to plug the hole, so to speak, and cut your spending down to the bone.
Every dollar of credit you spend is another dollar added to your bill and if your burden keeps growing, there's no way you are going to can pay off credit card debt.
Consolidate Next, organize your debt into an easily manageable form.
The easiest way to do this is to transfer your debt from multiple cards on to one - hopefully the one with the lowest interest.
One monthly payment is always better than several, if you think about it.
Also the amount of your new monthly payment should be less than the total amounts of all the other payments you were making.
Once you've consolidated your debt into one area, you can more easily begin to judge what it is going to take to pay off credit card debt completely.
Size of Payments Now, what is your budget for payments? How much of your overall income can you devote to paying down your debts? This is the important part of setting up a budget to get yourself out of debt.
You need to figure out how much money you can devote to payments and stick to it.
Pay More Than Minimum Once you've got your debt into a manageable form and figured out how much you can afford to pay, take stock of your monthly minimum payment.
You should pay more than minimum monthly payment.
Doing so will help offset the increase in your debt that comes from accrued interest.
However, if it is within your financial means, paying half again on your monthly minimum is the ideal solution in regards to a single monthly payment.
Budget yourself the minimum payment plus half.
This will help lower your overall monthly minimums to a more sedate level.
Then, once your minimums have dropped below your threshold, consider making multiple payments in a payment period.
Three payments, for instance, of the monthly minimum every month, will take a surprisingly large bite out of your overall debt.
If you can keep this up for several months, you may be able to pay off your debt in record time.
Lastly, if you're having difficulty, even with the above tips, consider shelling out to get some advice on your debt problems from a financial advisor.
With an advisor acting as your go-between you may be able to set up alternate payment schemes with your creditors that more easily fall into your budget.
Remember, at its base, debt control is all about managing the levels of money that you pay out.
Your end goal - besides the eventual clearing of the debt - is to regularly reduce your monthly pay out.
And the more you pay a month, the lower your next monthly payment will be theoretically.