By JOHN MARK EBERHART
Knight Ridder Newspapers

So is your budget so tight right now that you’d be hard-pressed even to buy some books about debt reduction? Or are you just cheap?

Either way, don’t go out and buy such books on your credit card. For other tips on getting out of debt, we asked three authors and a professor of economics for their thoughts. Here’s a sampling of the guidance they offered:

• Use the “debt snowball.” This advice comes from Dave Ramsey, radio host and author of “The Total Money Makeover.” Ramsey defies some conventional wisdom in advising debtors to start with wiping out their smallest credit-card balance, instead of starting with higher-interest-rate debts.

Ramsey conceded his plan “defies mathematics a little bit” but added that he believes tackling lower balances first lengthens the road to debt freedom by just a month or two. The psychological advantage — seeing some monthly obligations wiped out fast — outweighs that drawback, in his opinion.

“If you go on a diet and lose weight, you’ll stay on the diet,” Ramsey said. “If you go on a diet and gain weight, or don’t have any progress, you’ll quit.”

Donald Schilling, associate professor emeritus of economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, indicated that the decision on whether to tackle high interest or low balances first probably depends on how much you can trust yourself: “Personally I would pay off the high-interest-rate stuff first. ... However, if I were a credit addict seeking to reform, I’d pay off the small accounts to remove temptation, and then freeze the remaining credit cards in a block of ice and put (them) in the bottom of the freezer.”

• Reward yourself. When you do make progress, you should celebrate a bit, said Doug Hagedorn, author of “Ease the Squeeze.”

“Progress and the little pats on the back will help. ... I even suggest, after paying off some of the larger ones down the road, rewarding yourself with a night or weekend out, or something to drive you to results. ... I (know) one couple who had 21 credit cards and $41,000 in ... debt. They hung their debt hit list on the wall, poster-sized, and marked off each victory and celebrated the larger payoffs.”

• Negotiate. If you think banks, which issue credit cards, have all the power, you’re wrong, said Scott Bilker, author of “Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt.” “Most people make the mistake of thinking that they cannot negotiate with their bank. They feel at the mercy of their banks, and that’s just not the case.”

The reason is that banks are not all the same these days. Some offer more competitive rates, and because they want your business, they might present you with “balance transfer” options to move your debt onto their cards. Knowing this, your existing, higher-interest-rate card firm might give you a break, deciding it’s better to keep some of your money flowing in than to let you go.

Bilker warned, though, that most of the time, their initial response is “no.”

“Don’t hang up after the first rep says ‘no’” without asking to speak to a supervisor,” Bilker said.

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