Do You Have A Credit Card Problem?

• Are creditors calling you at home or sending you letters demanding payment?
   
• Are you borrowing money to pay old debts?
   
• Do you and your spouse argue frequently about credit problems, or avoid discussing the subject altogether?
   
• Review your monthly payments to creditors. Do they eat up more than 20 percent of your total take-home pay, not including rent or mortgage payments?
   
• Have you received a threat of a lawsuit, garnishment or repossession from a creditor?
   
• Are you paying only the minimum necessary on your credit card balances?
   
• Are you depending on overtime, moonlighting, a Christmas bonus or lottery winnings to meet your routine expenses?
   
• Do you need to take out cash advances from your credit card to pay other creditors or daily expenses?
   
• Are you making late payments or skipping some payments entirely for a month?
   
• Are you withdrawing your savings for day-to-day expenses?

If you answered yes to more than two or three of the above questions it means that you are likely having a difficult time balancing your budget because credit card debt is taking a large amount of your income. Some of the most common types of credit card problems are described here.  Or, if you need to get going on a solution and start taking action now, see Getting Out.