What Tax Season Can Do For Credit Card Debt
Can You Kiss Some Of Your Credit Card Debt Goodbye?
Tax season is upon us and that means many people will have the opportunity to erase some of their credit card debt. How, you ask? What could taxes and credit card debt possibly have in common? The answer, while not exactly "thrilling" is rather straightforward.
Say No To Vacations and Extravagance
Ask the average Joe what they're going to do with their income tax refund and you'll hear answers ranging from "I'll take a nice vacation" to "I'm gonna buy that big screen TV I've been wanting." If you have credit card debt, however, the answer should be, "I'm going to pay of some bills."
If you've got money coming back to you this year, you should probably use a good portion of it to pay off your credit card debt. Sure, it's not as fun as taking a nice vacation but it will make your refund dollar stretch farther (you'll be saving money on interest fees in the long run).
More Opportunity To Pay Off Bills
And don't forget - with the additional rebate checks that will be coming to us sometime in May or June, there's going to be even more opportunity to pay off our credit card debt this year. If you and/or your spouse had earned income in 2007, you'll get anywhere from $300 to $1,200 plus $300 per child.
Technically the government is hoping you'll spend this cash in the stores to prevent a recession, but the wiser thing to do would be take at least half of that check to pay off some of your credit card debt. Trust me, if you take half of your check to pay down some debt it's not going to be the sole cause of an impending recession and you'll thank yourself for it later.