If you’re struggling with debt but still want to try to pay it off on your own, the best way to do that is by using the snowball method. Imagine a little snowball that you pack tight with your hands. Now imagine putting that snowball on more snow on the ground and gently rolling it around until it gets bigger, and bigger and bigger. Now, push the giant snowball down a hill and watch it continue to pick up more snow until it’s a gigantic force to be reckoned with. This is kind of how the snowball debt payoff method works.
First, you select the debts that have the highest interest rates and start to slowly pay them off first with whatever money you have available. If you want to may off debt faster, find an extra source of income and put that moeny towards your high interest debt as well. Once you pay off that high interest rate debts, you can use the money you were applying to that debt and apply it to your debt with the next highest interest rate. When that debt is paid off, you pay the debts with the next highest interest rate.
Pretty soon, you will be freeing up more and more extra income. By the time you reach the last debt, you’ll pay it off faster than ever. This snowball method for paying off credit cards can be applied to any kind of debt — from student loans to car loans to home mortgages.
Of course, while you’re paying off your debts with high interest rates, you do have to continue paying the minimum balances on all your other cards and other debts so that it doesn’t create problems and late payments.
If you haven’t considered trying this debt payoff method, you might want to do some calculations to see if you can handle it. If you have tried the snowball method but your debt keeps getting bigger and it doesn’t seem to be working, then you might want to consider whether bankruptcy is the answer for your credit card debt troubles.
