pay off credit cards

Have increased monthly payments to pay off sooner … got transferred … sold house (at a loss …like most of America) ... but will use the difference between my mortgage and my much cheaper rent to pay off my credit cards sooner.

Word to the soon to be wise. Freeze your credit cards in a block of ice in the freezer. Don’t thaw it out unless they won’t admit you to the hospital without it.

Paid off the MONSTER one … now I smile everytime I see the bill come and it says:

Amount Due $0.00
Minimum Payment Due $0.00

Didn’t make as much progress as I wanted … a bunch of stuff happened … read my entry on LOSE 30 POUNDS … so I am starting over on this goal!

Wish me luck!

Hi … I am abehareina … I am a credit-card-aholic. It’s been 45 days since I last used my credit cards.

Ok … it is Wednesday of vacation … my mom wants to go out to eat for lunch … I need to order thoughtfully … keep the cost down … PAY CASH!!!

I need to buy an airline ticket for a trip in May … does paying the amount into my credit card first and then booking the ticket count as “cheating” on my “NOT USING MY CREDIT CARDS?” is there another way to pay for an airline ticket?

Comments please … my first major moral quandary with the “NOT USING MY CREDIT CARDS” ....

I will pay them off … this is war!!!

Confession is good for the soul!! Pray for me!!!

Hi … I am abehareina … I am a credit-card-aholic. It’s been 44 days since I last used my credit cards.

It’s my son’s spring break and we drove 9 hours to visit relatives & friends in our old town. Saved the cash for gas in advance, used my debit card to pay, packed food from home to avoid the high $$$ highway food.

Making a round robin seeing friends and family. As the old saying goes … house guests are like fish … after three days they start to stink … making sure that we don’t stay anywhere more than 2 days!

Had to be imaginative to do this on the cheap … but left the credit cards at home … made sure that I had the Auto Club paid up in case of emergency … and we have had a great time!

Instead of eating out, I have bought the groceries (as a thank you for my host) and then did the dishes!

I went for a long walk in the country today, it’s 30 degrees warmer here than up north. The birds were singing … and so was I because I wasn’t racking up credit card debt for this getaway.

This is WAR!!! I will pay them off.

Confession is good for the soul! Pray for me!

Hi … I am abehareina … I am a credit-card-aholic … it’s been 39 days since I last used my credit cards.

Got the $0 statement in the mail tonight from the department store card!!! I had already seen it ZERO online, but to have the USPS deliver a clean bill of health, nice feeling.

The daunting task is to now clean up cards B, C & D. Walt was kind enough to give me some advice about my 401K, so I have to weigh that info. Read something interesting on www.bankrate.com this morning. If you carry a balance on a card that is more than 50% of your credit limit, they deduct points from your FICO score. That might not matter to your payoff plan unless you are trying to buy a house or insurance in the next 6 months.

Right now I am just busy snowballing those payments!

I paid all three cards early this month so I could see the balance drop before month end. I think I am going to make all three payments as soon as I get paid each month. I may even try to make payments every two weeks. Kir Royale suggested that.

This is WAR!!! I will pay them off!!!

I will pay off my credit cards, I will pay off my credit cards, I will pay off my credit cards!

Confession is good for the soul! Pray for me!!!

Hi … I am abehareina … I am a credit-card-aholic. It’s been 35 days since I last used my credit cards.

Stu & xAmethyst have some really encouraging posts today! Congratulations!

I officially see a ZERO balance on my department store statement online today!!! YEA!!! This was the smallest bill with the largest interest rate.

I am going to read the fine print on my 401K plan today. I can take enough out through a normal distribution (and pay taxes on it of course) to almost pay off the highest rate card. I can then transfer the remaining balance to card C. If I do this then I have calculated how to pay the remainder off by Aug 2007.

Does anyone else have any experience taking a normal distribution from their 401K, what are the pitfalls?

Confession is good for the soul! Pray for me!

Hi … I am abeheareina … I am a credit-card-aholic … it’s been one whole month + 2 days since I last used my credit cards.

The great news is by biting the bullet, I figured out a way to pay on Friday the $374.34 left on the highest interest rate card. OK, I will admit it only had $414 on it when I decided to pay off all my credit cards. But originally it was going to take me until next summer to pay it off. This was because it was not the highest rate card (but remember I called the highest rate card and asked them to drop my rate. They did.)

This then made the $414 card my highest rate card. Since I have decided to SNOWBALL I needed to pay in order from highest to lowest.

When I talk about “biting the bullet”, don’t feel sorry for me. I am blessed with a fridge full of food, my housing is fairly inexpensive, and my 19 year old son is fairly self sufficient. So the only sacrifice I really have to make is to not be lazy. I need to continue to cook for myself … no eating out … except on Tuesday night … KFC has chicken fried steak dinner for $2.01 :-) ... so much for healthy eating.

Paying this Department Store card off is a small milestone, and the next card has a much more daunting balance. But since I am getting good suggestions from other posts, and from those who reply to my posts, I am planning on paying Card B off ahead of schedule also.

Please, please keep those suggestions, ideas, encouragement coming!

Confession is good for the soul! Pray for me!

Hi … I am abeheareina … I am a credit-card-aholic … it’s been one whole month since I last used my credit cards.

This is a big milestone. The next batch of statements will be the first in a long time that don’t show any NEW PURCHASES. What a wonderful feeling. I am going to reward my FUTURE SELF by paying an extra $20 on my highest interest rate card(that is worth nearly $30 to my future self)!

Keep those suggestions coming, I read every post and look for more ways to cut my bill. My tip for today is to cancel every magazine subscription that you don’t read.

This is WAR!!! I will pay them off!!!

Confession is good for the soul. Pray for me.