Ok…so I will finally be on track with my bills starting in January. I can start rebuilding my credit, which has gone to s—- in the last two years or so. I don’t think I’ll be able to pay off all my cards by the time I turn 30 in two-and-a-half years, but I think in 4-5 years I will, as long as I DO NOT CONTINUE TO USE THEM! Now that I’m on track w my budget I don’t think I’ll have to. Fingers crossed.
People who have done this
More "How I Did It" stories
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 ;)
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.
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 loves lazy Saturdays.
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…
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
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We had been saving for our wedding for a long time, but in April we started a small business which ate up alot of the money in start up costs, wages, equipment etc.
Consequentially the wedding got paid for on credit predominately. So now for the fun part – paying it off and getting back on track financially.
tinysarah is a tired duck!
The consumer-debt reduction goal is still high on my priority list, although my work situation has changed substantially over the last couple of months and, in turn, is impacting my $$$ flow.
However, I am looking forward to a nice big tax refund in February, that will be applied against my AMEX and should almost clear the balance! I am also moving to a less expensive housing situation, that should save me between $110-$150 a month. With the damage deposit from my current apartment being returned, I should be able to see one of my cards paid off after tax season – this would narrow me down to just one card, woohoo!
August 08
Mastercard: 1067.03 @ 5.99%.
Visa: 2425.78 @ 16.73%
My Visa balance, due to acquiring a dog with surprise health issues, an opportunity for an amazing vacation that I took (and don’t regret at all, regardless of $$$ spent), and a car repair, has actually increased. I have however, recently transferred it to another card (a rewards card!) and hope to pay it off by the time the 0% APR runs out in 6 months. The new card is put away and I will not be using it at all until it is paid off.
Visa: $2700 on new card, ($150 on old card that will be paid off this month.)
Mastercard: $696
Total: $3396
lejaders is painfully bored!
I am currently awaiting approval for a consolidation loan.
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
I will have 2 paid off by January !
then the two big ones will be in my sights
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
I paid my credit card bill earlier this month. Even so I am planning to put more down in a few days.
I’m almost there! I now have more than enough in my checking account to pay off my last remaining credit card.












