The following is a guest post from Martha Jackson, a contributing financial writer working for debtconsolidationcare.com. Since I myself have a student loan this article from Martha is about getting out of small consumer debt.

Consumer debt is the debt that results from any money owed due to buying goods or items for personal use. This debt usually arises from credit cards, installment loans and other kinds of financing. They may take up a huge part of your income every month. You can get out of debt problems if you want to enjoy a debt free life.

6 Ways to get out of small consumer debt

Read on to know about the 6 ways how you can get out of small consumer debt.

1. Purchase goods with cash – You should try to purchase goods with cash only. Skip the idea of using credit cards since this will lead to increase in debt problems. It is advisable that you need not carry credit cards with you when you go out to buy something. Keep in mind that credit cards should be used only to meet your necessities.
2. Make more than minimum payment – You can reduce your credit card debt by making more than the minimum payment. Start with small payment and then try to double your minimum balance to eliminate the credit card bills. As your income increases with time, you should make more than the minimum payments on your credit card dues so as to get rid of them soon. You may use fund from the employment bonuses or income tax returns to come out of consumer debt.
3. Request for a decrease in interest rate – You can negotiate with your creditors and request for decreasing the interest rate on your credit card dues. The creditors will assess your credit score at first and then find out if you can qualify for a better interest rate. Thus, the debt payments will become easier for you.
4. Look into your personal savings – Managing your money wisely means you will never touch your personal savings at any cost. However, if you are handling high consumer debt and high rate of interest, you may use your savings to wipe away your credit card dues. Once you get rid of credit card bills, you will be able to enjoy being debt free.
5. Try to make some sacrifices – You may assess your monthly expenditures and try to cut down the unnecessary expenses to as much as possible. Go through the credit card statements very carefully and calculate how much money you can spend on entertainment, shopping and dining out. Make use of the extra money to pay off your credit card dues.
6. Suitable ways to boost your monthly income – If you are finding it difficult to pay down your consumer debt with your monthly income, you may look for suitable ways to improve your earning capacity. Take up some part-time jobs that you can do during your leisure hours and boost your monthly income. Earning extra dollars will enable you to pay down the credit card debts with ease.

By following the above ways, you will be able to get out of consumer debt soon.