Do you have debt?
I have carried my share of credit card debt.
I signed up for my first two credit cards in college (you know, to get the free t-shirt). By the time I left college I had a decent amount of debt and two worn out t-shirts. I wasn’t paying this off every month and so I was paying 20% or more in interest charges.
Looking back, it’s hard to believe I left college with this debt considering I graduated with an advanced degree in accounting and was preparing for the CPA exam. I guess I was living for the future, thinking that first big pay day would bail me out.
After college, I got a few retail credit cards (you know, to save 10% on more t-shirts). All this eventually added up to late charges, credit dings, and a bunch of high interest, stupid debt.
Bottom line, I let the credit card companies dictate when I applied for a credit card and I wasn’t being disciplined in the use of those cards. Well, there comes a time when we need to take this control back and be intentional about your finances (aka, grow up).
Well, if your in this boat, there’s never a better time than now to do this.
Why I Paid Off My Debt?
I paid off my debt for the following reasons:
- I realized I was sick of paying for something that I had long since used (dinners out, movies, vacations, etc…).
- I realized how much money I was throwing away on high-interest charges.
- I wanted to feel in control and in charge of my money and not have this burden hanging over my head.
How I Paid Off My Debt?
I paid my debt off as quick as possible. The first thing I did was look for a balance transfer credit card offer so I would eliminate the high-interest charges.
There are sometimes offers without a balance transfer fee. These deals usually run around 12 months before more interest kicks in. There are dangers in doing a 0% balance transfer, but if you are disciplined, you will come out better off on the other side.
Next, I simply divided my balance by the number of months left on the deal and planned to make that payment each month. For example, if the balance is $2,500 and it’s a 0% interest deal for 12 months, the monthly payment would be around $210 ($2500/12). That was considerably more than my minimum payment, but I was ready to make a change.
Getting out of this debt was going to hurt a little. If the monthly payment had been too high, say in the thousands, I would have considered doing a second balance transfer to stretch the 0% to 24 months.
If the credit card companies wouldn’t extend me the 0% offer, I would have listed my credit cards out, highest interest first, and planned to pay as much as possible each month on the highest one until it was paid off. Then I would move to the next highest interest card.
Extreme Measures
The next thing I did was a little extreme, but it was what I needed. I cut up my old cards and the new card (I had transferred to) so I couldn’t add anymore credit card debt to my life. This was hard to do, but I was really excited about taking back control and I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.
Do you have an inspiring get out of debt story you could share? Feel free to comment below…
Last Edited: March 16, 2012 @ 3:21 pmDid You Like This Article? Get free email updates! Sign up now and receive exclusive content and a FREE COPY of my eBook '31 Days to Improve Your Financial Life'. Enter your name and email address below: |  |
