lejaders is painfully bored!
Untitled
6 days ago
I am currently awaiting approval for a consolidation loan.
People who have done this
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How to pay off my credit cards
It made me
What a relief!!
 "It feels so good to be free from the Credit Card Debt!!"
How I did it: I first focused on my smallest credit card debt. I paid the most on that one and then just the minimum on the other ones. Once that one got paid off, I took the extra I was putting toward that one and put it all to my next smallest one. I kept doing this until all but one was paid off. By the time I got to the last one, I was making a real dent in my balance with every payment. I had quiet a bit of debt, but it only took me 18 months to pay it off!! I am so happy I did! Lessons & tips: Make a budget and every bit of extra you get, put it toward the smallest credit card. That way you feel like you are really making ground on your debt! Resources: I think that Dave Ramsey and his budget advice can help anyone!!
12 people found this helpful
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More "How I Did It" stories
It made me
more secure
How I did it: I always carried a balance, but until the last year I realized I was going to have to do without if I ever wanted to pay these cards off. I cut my spending to the minimum and avoided trips to the mall. Read how I did it…
mishsofresh is working on it... all ;)
It made me
ecstatic!
How I did it: Investigate.Investigate. Find out what you're paying for. I realized I was paying third party charges on a WFNNB credit card that I had for a service I don't use. It was offered free for a month and the deal was to cancel if you didn't want to stay in their program (monthly credit score access) and I ended up knocked off $12.99 from my bill of a $111.00 bill that I had.Payment arrangements - Call up your credit card companies and hav… Read how I did it…
handheldheidi feels wanted.
It made me
feel relief.
How I did it: I slimmed down shopping and only picked up absolute necessities to make big payments to the plastic. Really, that's it. Every payday i put as much as i didn't have to have for other things. I just focuses on one card at a time until it was done, beginning with the cards with the highest interest rate. Read how I did it…
atinygoat remembered that she does not really like sweets.
It made me
less in debt!
How I did it: I used to be one of those people who paid off the monthly balance every month.. but then life got in the way.My first stumbling block was student teaching. I had to shell out $17,000 for the privilege of working for someone else, full time, for free. No problem with that except that I could only work about 15 hours a week while student teaching, which means I started putting things on my credit cards and not paying off the ent… Read how I did it…
It made me
feel great
How I did it: I sold my stock at my job to pay for last year of school rather that take out $10Gs more in student loans. I used part of the money to pay the $4Gs I owed on total on two cards. Read how I did it…
→ See all 16 "How I did it" stories
People doing this are also doing these things:
Entries
Mint
1 week ago
I joined mint.com at my boyfriend’s behest. OMG, it was scary to have all of your finances staring back at you. I have sat down with my mint account some, and have made budgets for a number of categories. I’m going to see how I spend for the next few months and then I will make adjustments as needed. This is my FIRST step in becoming debt free…go me!
Ed Wynn deciding to lose 35more pounds
two by 2010
1 week ago
I will have 2 paid off by January !
then the two big ones will be in my sights
Untitled
4 weeks ago
I have a lot of debt, I have a large student loan to repay, as well as 5 lines of credit, one of which is not a card and is very small so I will not count it here. This goal will deal with my four credit cards.
I have already made some progress. I have closed one of my card accounts and am fairly close to having it paid off for good. I need to close down one of my other credit card accounts, and pay it off as well. And I also need to pay off the other two which I will keep open. The hardest part of this goal will be to stop using the two that I am keeping in the same way that I have been (carrying a balance, using them for things I don’t absolutely need).
I’ll track my progress here.
Credit cards paid off: 0/4
kendramichelle is studying
Early
1 month ago
I paid my credit card bill earlier this month. Even so I am planning to put more down in a few days.
Untitled
1 month ago
I’m almost there! I now have more than enough in my checking account to pay off my last remaining credit card.
tinysarah is keeping her options open.
Woot! #2
2 months ago
Made my second $340 payment! I am feeling really great about sticking to a plan – and it’s nice to see some available credit on my higher limit cards!
I also sat down and figured out a budget for the next 8 months – based on several different scenarios. I am between contract work at the moment, and with the possibility of more school looming, I wanted a concrete plan – no matter the outcome. It was time consuming, but well worth doing. I now have a clearer picture of how much I need to net per month in order to pay for school, pay down my credit cards, and sock a bit away in savings.
Feeling great about this goal so far!
oh_geez is smiling.
August 25
2 months ago
I must say I’ve been doing very well paying my credit card bills in the last couple months. Let’s hope I can keep it up!
Here is my new rule: I cannot use my smallest card ($200) at all until I pay the entire thing off. I cannot use my next smallest card ($750) until I have the balance down to 1/4 of the credit limit.
9 months
2 months ago
Yes, I still have debt after 2 years. It’s all down to the Premiere Miles card now and I hope to clear it soon. At the rate I’m going, if I pay as I’m paying now and not use this card anymore, I will be debt-free in 9 months. I want to think of these 9 months as conceiving and preparing for a whole new life all together. After this, I will cancel my cards and never ever swipe plastic unless I’m buying air tickets.
9 months. Help me focus and reach this goal, dear Universe.
Untitled
2 months ago
So I racked up a fair amount of debt enjoying myself and about a year ago realised that it wasn’t going to end well if I kept on spending! I have begun paying down my debts and hope to have paid off all my credit cards by the end of 2009.
Priorities and tips:
- Pay down high interest cards first (not only does this save more, but paying off a whole card gives a better feeling than paying down bits of many)
- Transfer high interest balances to interest free deals (credit is fine, as long as you are getting a good rate! Be aware of the impact of the transfer fee. Interest free for 6 months with a 3.5% transfer fee is not necessarily a good idea!)
- Use credit wisely and aim to pay off in full each month. Budget before any big spends
- Use cash only for small items – it’s easy to build up your debt by using your card on small items as you think it is not hurting your balance. The £10 here or there on drinks or food makes a big difference at the end of the month.
So, I have just over £4k to go but have transferred £2k to interest fee for 12 months and the rest has a fixed rate of 8.9%. I should clear that by November so at least it is interest free from there. Would be great to start 2010 with a clean slate!
