Money Life Network
Don’t Let Credit Card Debt Weigh You Down
Posted on May 14, 2008 |
Welcome to Free From Broke, subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe via email to get these articles free to your inbox. Thanks for visiting!
So I left the house this morning with my daughter and dropped her off to school. As I was walking to the bus stop I realized something was different. I didn’t have my watch on. I must have forgotten it in the craziness that is our morning routine (my wife and I getting ready for work then getting the kids ready).
Understand I almost always wear a watch. I didn’t notice it missing because I checked for the time. I noticed it missing because I felt the weight of the watch missing from my wrist. At first I was a little panicky since I always have it, how would I know the time, but then I felt something different. I was no longer a slave to this instrument that demanded my attention. I felt lighter. I was free!
What’s your point FFB?!? 
I thought of another time I felt the same way, when a weight was lifted from me. Know when that was? When I finally finished paying off my credit card debt. I had been thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I was doing well getting rid of the debt slowly but it always hung over me, weighing me down. I kept thinking of how I was paying off “stuff” I accumulated. It was all baggage on my psyche. The money I was paying could have gone to much better things like saving. It was so refreshing when I finally paid off my final bill and my credit card accounts were now zero! I was free from debt and it felt sooo good.
Do you have credit card debt? Is it a monkey on your back? Here’s the big question - What are you doing about it?
Here are some tips to help get you out of credit card debt:
- Make sure you always pay at least the minimum due. Don’t get charged for paying less. Those charges will get charged interest too!
- Make sure you pay on time! You can easily get charged $35 for a late fee and the credit card company nay raise your interest rates.
- If you’re having trouble with the due date try calling the card company to have the date it changed.
- Find the card with the highest rate. Take any extra money you can to add to the minimum payment on that card while paying the minimum on the others. Once that card is paid off take the amount you paid on the first and add it to the next highest rate card. Keep doing this until all of your cards are paid. Then take the amount you were paying and pay that into a savings account.
- If you are responsible with keeping up on your payments you can try transferring your debt from a high interest card to one with lower interest. As you get better with your debt you may even find offers for 0% cards sent to you. Just make sure you understand the terms.
- Stop using your credit card. Buy only what you can afford. It’s very difficult to get rid of credit card debt when you are still adding charges.
If you are struggling with credit card debt (or any debt for that matter) start doing something about it today! You’ll feel much better when it’s off your back.
Sign up with ING Direct and get a $25 bonus. See here for details.
photo by lightmatter
- You Might Enjoy These Other Posts
- Family - Can’t Live With ‘Em…Unless It Helps Debt
- 7 Credit Card Tips From ING Direct
- HOW AMEX AND ING GAVE US A WEDDING GIFT
- Do You Love Your Job? A Credit Card Evaluation
- A Journey Of A Thousand Miles
Filed Under Goals, Money, credit card, debt, tips
Comments
9 Responses to “Don’t Let Credit Card Debt Weigh You Down”
Trackbacks
- The 140th Carnival of Debt Reduction: Circus Day Edition | Prime Time Money
- Carnival of Debt Reduction » Blog Archive » Prime Time Money has posted Carnival #140
Leave a Reply
Recent Posts
Follow Free From Broke
Follow Me on Twitter
Recent Comments
- Kevin Wright said: I love Frank's idea for leftovers. However, don't be afraid to go to lunch with friends and colleagues. Networking can pay off down the road, and you should not underestimate the importance of socializing at work. Along with working hard, the more you are liked, the easier it is for promotion and raises. on I’m Saving By Bringing Lunch To Work
- Heather said: Right now we are planning on continuing our weekly contributions to retirement even though the markets look dreadful. on What We’re Looking To Do With Our Finances In The Next Year (And A Contest)
- Mindful Money in Miami said: The best advice we ever received was from my mother after my father passed away and we received a small inheritance. She urged us to use the money as a deposit on a house because the interest rates were so low at the time. We did so, and I'm very grateful we followed on Best Financial Advice You’ve Received
- BSCC said: I started bringing my lunch to work about a year ago. At first it was kind of hard to see all my co-workers leave for lunch and come back talking about how good their gourmet lunch was. After a while, I started to bring in some gourmet lunches of my own (cooked at home) on I’m Saving By Bringing Lunch To Work
- hank said: Wow, so many to choose from... I guess I'd have to go with "invest for the long term"... Case in point, today's economy. If you're NOT doing that, you may be in for a surprise...
on Best Financial Advice You’ve Received
Informational Links
If You'd Like To Donate To Free From Broke
Free From Broke Stumble Upon
Free From Broke Twitter
Free From Broke Technorati
Free From Broke Digg
The sooner the better! <– Oh how true this statement is!!!
I had a lot of debt after college…so much so that I felt I was drowning in it. It didn’t begin to feel better until I started paying off whole accounts. Only then did I begin to rest easy.
I’m not saying that you have to pay off whole accounts, just that any sort of action is a positive step. As always, the sooner the better.
@ Ricardo - I felt the same way. I would make just the minimum and go about my business but in the back of my head I knew it was bad. Once I started paying more I felt I had some control and started feeling better about it. I had a long way to go but it was a positive step in the right direction!
It really does set you free when you get rid of that debt. When I paid my credit card debt off after college, I was so incredibly relieved. My boyfriend, who is still in school, is heavily burdened by his credit card debt, and I can tell it literally just weighs him down. I can’t wait until he is able to pay it off — it’s just one more thing to worry about.
@ Emily - Glad to hear you were able to get rid of your debt! When I finished paying off mine I was able to look at my bank account and see that the money there actually belonged to me and not to the CC companies.
What a great list of tips.
I’m linking to this in my next round of link love
@ Fabulously Broke - Looking forward to it. Make sure to let me know!
I had that same feeling when I paid off some credit card debt right out of college. I was late on one payment to my chase card and my rate went up from a 0% to 17%. I was looking at my payments and wondering why I’d make a $100 payment and only half of it was going to the principle. It was a struggle to pay it off and I had to tighten up my spending habits. But it felt good not to be throwing good money at bad anymore. People need to always take a detailed look at their statements each month to make sure they aren’t paying each month towards nothing. Good article and image as well.