How I Got Out Of Credit Card Debt
I knew I was in trouble when I was getting phone calls from creditors. It was definitely time to clean up my act. Luckily I had a job, so with some big changes to my lifestyle I’d be able to work on fixing my debt situation. I started by looking for advice on the internet and found ways to approach my situation.
I printed up all my credit card statements and just about had a heart attack! I had no idea my interest rates were so high! I now could see that the new dining room furniture set I’d just bought was costing me much more than I thought. It was time to really get this sorted out. I also didn’t know how bad my debt was, and quickly totaled it up to see the amount was in the $15,000 range.
My reading lead me to destroy all of my cards. I grabbed a pair of tough scissors and went to town, cutting those things up into the smallest shreds. I had a lot of fun with this, cutting them this way and that, so they ended up all over the place. They ended up sucked up into my dyson upright vacuum cleaner. Putting the vacuum away, I felt totally liberated.
Next I organized my debts in order of which ones had the highest and lowest balances. If you pay off the lowest balances first, you can snowball the effect of paying off your debts a lot quicker. So I did that, and in my very first month killed one debt. As time went by more and more credit cards were successfully paid off. By the end of year 3, I had only two cards left!
It was still going to take some time to get rid of these last two, so I called the card issuers and told them I needed them to reduce the interest rate. It took a lot of time on hold, but it totally paid off! Now I have two cards at 9% APR instead of 29%! Really, all you have to do is ask and I’m kind of bummed I didn’t try it sooner. Now there’s way less finance fees to pay each month,
So now I’m a savvy spender, always paying with cash, and if it cost so much I need credit, I don’t need it that bad! I have two cards left open for emergencies, but the balance is firmly at zero. I won’t ever go back to those bad spending habits again.
Now life is virtually stress free without that cloud hanging over my head. I can rest easy in my full size loft bed every single night knowing my finances are in good shape.
Tags: credit cards, debt relief