Debt Free Millennials: dealing with credit card debt

Hey guys, it's Justine with Debt Free Millennials. If you're watching this and you have credit card debt, and most likely you have this feeling of desperation, feeling trapped, perhaps even feeling kind of out of control, like the situation just is going to get worse, I want to let you know that there is a way out, there is a way to halt credit card debt, and I'm going to be going over those things in this video. I'm feeling kind of emotional even just recording this video because I have a friend who is going through this right now, and it just really makes me feel for her and what she's going through because it can seem like there's no end in sight. If that's you, and you have racked up credit card debt, and you haven't been making the payments on it, and those minimums keep growing and growing, first recognize that your feelings are valid. Some emotions that you might be going through may include shame, embarrassment, frustration, anxiousness, that overwhelming sense of stress. I'm betting a lot of your friends and family don't even know what you're going through because you put on this tough persona, you know, you just put your best face forward because you don't even want to admit to yourself what's really happening behind closed doors. Recognize that you're human, you made a mistake, and that what you have in front of you, and this mess that you're in right now, is fixable. You can get through this. Now, the path, I'm not going to lie, the path is going to be hard and a difficult road, but you can do it. With the right plan and resources available, you can get yourself out of debt. Next, you have to 80-6 credit cards. You can no longer be using credit cards for your month-to-month expenses, instead you're going to be using a debit card and paying cash for things that you actually need. So that leads me into my next point, you need to make sure that you are covering the basic needs to live, to survive. So whether that be a rent or mortgage payment, you are putting food in the fridge and gas in your car, and that's it. You are cutting out Spotify, Amazon Prime, Netflix, the weekly Starbucks ritual. You are cooking all of your food at home. Restaurants are a luxury. You can't afford to spend like you're spending because that's how you got into this mess in the first place, so I'm giving you some tough love here. But you have to cover basic necessities and that's it. You need to feed you and if you have a partner or even little ones right now, you need to make sure that their basic needs are met. So what that means is if you aren't even making enough income to cover those basic needs, you need to get your income up. So that includes picking up a second job. A lot of millennials are now on this entrepreneurship road. So if that's you and you don't have any cash flow coming in, you're going to buff up the resume and you're going to start sending that out to companies and recruiters and you are going to knock down doors until you get a foot in that door and start getting a paycheck. Maybe this isn't going to be your big dreamy job that you've always wanted, but we have to make sure that you're getting a consistent paycheck each month to cover those basic needs. Now next, you are going to call your credit card lender. If you're having trouble making the minimum payments, what you can do is you can politely ask and tell them that you want to work with them and ask if they can lower the APR. So APR is the annual percentage rate. This can fluctuate depending on your credit score and what's going through in your own situation. But sometimes these APRs can range anywhere from 12% all the way up to I've seen 35% on some of these credit cards. It's absolutely ridiculous and then that interest compounds on itself daily. So that's how this credit card debt can actually skyrocket into literally no man's land. So call them, tell them you want to work with them, ask if you can get your APR lowered and see. You don't know unless you call. And then after that, you're going to figure out how you want to pay off the credit card debt. Whether you want to focus on the highest interest rate first, so you're going to pay minimums on all of the other debts except for that top one, and you're going to focus all of your energy on the loan that has the highest interest rate. Or you can flip it and focus on the smallest loan first, which is going to give you instant gratification to help you feel motivated to pay off the next smallest debt. You cannot afford to wait any longer. The situation that you're in right now needs to change. So I want you to sit down with either your partner or your best friend or maybe it's even a family member that you're really close with and tell them what's going on. You need the support. And if you're still feeling overwhelmed, head on over to the private Facebook group for Debt Free Millennials where we really have a supportive and uplifting environment that's going to help you feel supported and more confident as you make this choice to start paying down the credit card debt and stop using it altogether. I want to tell you this, you are not alone. You can do this, okay? So I want you to come, bring it in, bring it in for the real thing. Hug it out. I want you to know that I'm right there to support you every step of the way. Direct message me on Facebook or Instagram, Twitter, I'm on all of the channels. Drop me a comment below, let me know how you're going through this and together we're going to make this happen for you.