I am a Money Expert with $10k of credit card debt. This is how I am paying it off
My family had a bad year in
2024. My partner lost his employment, our dog was found to have cancer and a member of my family suffered a stroke. As a personal financial expert, I take risk into consideration. I have a high yield savings account, and I am more aware of the dangers of credit card debt than most people. So how did I find myself in this situation?
Life is unpredictable, and sometimes we don’t have the resources to handle what comes our way. According to the Survey of Consumer Finances data, 45% of American families are in credit card debt. This shows that I’m not alone. Debt is neutral in moral terms, but if you have more than you intended to spend on it, you can get into financial trouble. By removing the common vitriol associated with debt and making a clear plan, we can zero out our balances sooner.
Here is what I am doing to pay off $10,602.27 of credit card debt in six months.
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Identify the real numbers
The first step to paying off any type of debt is knowing your numbers. The first step to paying off any type of debt is knowing your numbers. What is the minimum payment per month? What is the rate of interest? You can see where you stand and what your priorities are. I used this to see how much debt I had. I used this so that I could take into consideration what my debt looked like.
Card
Discover
AMEX
|
Care Credit |
Total debt owed |
$4,494.57 |
$5,074.82 |
|
$1,032.88 |
Monthly payment |
$106.77 |
$140.00 |
|
$62.00 |
Interest rate |
29.99% |
22.15% |
|
0% until March |
An important thing to note is that some of your credit cards may have introductory rates. My Care Credit card has 0% interest up until March. Have an emergency fund |
One reason I was in debt is because my emergency fund was not as big as I wanted. The money I’ve saved in my account could be used to pay off my Care Credit Card. This is because my savings are the only thing that stands between me and debt. This is why an emergency fund is important. You could get into even more debt if you don’t have any cash. This will help you avoid further debt and give you flexibility when dealing with unforeseen circumstances. This will help you avoid indebting yourself further and allow flexibility when dealing with unforeseen circumstances. |
Create a debt payoff plan (and stick to it) |
There are many debt payoff plans out there. You will find the best plan if you stick with it. I’m using the debt snowball. The debt snowball method pays off the debt that has the lowest total balance first. You can allocate more money towards the lowest balance by paying only the minimum amount on each other debt. The Care Credit introductory interest rate is the reason I chose this method. The 0% interest rate helped me when my dog was undergoing cancer treatment. However, I don’t want to pay a 33% rate if I can pay off the balance quickly. Budget extra money towards debt
I did a little math over the past few months. I divided my spending into categories to create a realistic budget. Although the budget is tight, it’s important to me to stick to it to be able to pay as much off debt each month as possible. I would rather have that money to repair my hot tub but, as I said earlier, it’s first on the list. )
Build a budget you can stick to with Rocket Money, CNET’s editor choice winner and pick for best budgeting app.
Details
Remember to have fun
Paying off high interest credit card debt is important to my financial journey, but it’s not the only important step. I would have advised you to only focus on debt repayment if you had any debt. Now, I realize that debt repayment is the most important thing.
I encourage myself to enjoy life while I pay down my credit card debt. It may seem counterintuitive, but spending money on yourself and practicing financial balance is key to staying motivated during debt payoff. Your debt payoff journey does not have to be all-or-nothing
It will take you longer to pay off your debt but you won’t stop or regress. Your money journey should be about sustainability and longevity.
