How To Deal With Credit Cards After A Divorce
27 Aug
If you have gone through a divorce, you may know exactly how to face those tangled emotions and difficult financial situations. It can be tough financially, but you’ll survive! Divorce can be quite stressful; first of all you need to sort out your feeling and try to do everything that can make your life better.
These are important tips on how to deal with your cards after a divorce.
First, get a credit card statement
Call your bank and get the statement for your cards. List your card based on the balance, APR and interest rate. Things can be much more complicated if you share those cards with your ex-husband/wife. Check the statements and make an agreement about how to settle any lingering issues.
Eliminate your Debts
Now that you have clearer view of your credit cards situation, focus your effort on a card with the highest interest, try to pay more than the minimum. For the time being, you can make minimum payments on cards with smaller interest. Determine how many months it takes to pay off your highest-interest card (it shouldn’t be more than 18 months) and after the balance reached zero, scratch it from the list and if possible contact the issuer to cancel it. You now have a sizable amount of extra money freed from the previous card. Use it to pay your next highest-interest debt. Dealing with the next card should be faster and easier, because you will have increasingly more money. When you have paid everything off, you’ll find yourself with a significant amount of extra money, previously used for credit card monthly payments.
Great! You’ve paid off all your debts, what now?
Do not be too intimate with credit cards, they are still dangerous. Cancel all of your cards and keep the one with the lowest interest, annual fee and APR. Divorce may mean that you’ll need to adjust your lifestyle because you can no longer share your income with a spouse. If you have less income after a divorce, the extra money should help. Some people after a divorce may get into a disastrous situation, such as binge eating, alcohol and drugs addiction, or something more related to this article, like shopping spree. Don’t make your situation worse by charging your cards excessively for something unnecessary. Especially, if your kids stay with you, you need to immediately fix your situation to ensure that they will be financially secure.
