Finance charges can be a pain in the butt and your charges are through the roof, I’m going to show you some ways on how you can get those rates cut down to next to nothing by the end of the week.  All you will have to do is attack your debt, do as you’re told and you’ll slowly see those finance charges go down the drain.

Call the credit card companies – The first thing you’ll want to do is pull out every credit card that you’re using or one that you have a balance on.  You’ll want to call up each company and ask if you can get your rate lowered.  I’d say that 50% of the time it will work but not all the time.  If they won’t budge, tell them that you’re going to go to another credit card company.  You’ll find that this may scare them and then they will be more than willing to work with you.

Don’t be a bum- This one is easy.  Instead of staring at your $50,000 debt bill, why don’t you go out and get another job and start spending frugally?  Instead of buying that Starbucks, go out and make your own coffee.  I don’t think I need to go any further.  Attacking your debt isn’t hard and it’s not going to happen overnight.  Get more money and pay that debt off!

Be a good credit card person – When I say this I mean pay your bills off in full all the time, pay them off in time and you’ll slowly see your credit score rise.  What will this mean for you when your score rises?  It means you’ll get a lower rate in the future for a mortgage, car, etc.  A lower score can save you thousands of dollars annually.   I don’t care what anyone says, your credit score is very important to your lifestyle.

Try transferring a balance – If you’ve found in the first step that you can’t get a lower rate by asking, try looking for credit cards that will give you a lower rate if you transfer to them.  There are tons of credit cards out there that are willing to give you 0% for 12 months, etc just for transferring.

Try third party sites – Websites like Prosper.com will allow you to have other lenders bid on your loan.  This way, if you want to avoid major banks, you can try sites like this.  Most of the time, you’ll find that you’ll be able to get a lower rate by using one of these sites.  A site like Prosper.com is safe and secure.

These are a few ways on how you can slash your finance charges in nearly half.  Some of the tips are going to work but some may not work out depending on your credit score.  Usually, the better score you have, the more likely it’ll work for you.