A Centennial Celebration

Today marks the 100th post to this blog. Thanks for stopping by. We have looked at ways to help eliminate your credit card debt and the main focus has been on finding ways that money has been slipping through your fingers and driving you deeper in dept. Perhaps you haven't had as much control over your spending as you would like to have had (guilty). Perhaps you have been maxing out your credit cards and shuffling between payments and even using the "free checks" that come with your statement to pay the minimum on a different credit card (guilty).

It takes a conscious effort to change your habits and use credit more wisely (or or not at all).

It can be a daunting task to stop cold turkey and that it exactly what some people do. They say to themselves, "I am not going to use my credit cards any more". They cut them up, and that is that. Some people wait until there is no credit left to use. Either way, change (in this case) is good. You need to take a stand and not let yourself be run over by credit card debt any longer!

How?

Educate yourself. Seek advice from others. Negotiate. Pay your bills on time. Seek help, if necessary. The important thing to know is that you have the power to get out of credit card debt and break free of the chains that bind you.

Thanks, and have a GREAT day!

Two More To Go

$161.44. With just two days to go (and no grocery store in sight) accomplishment can definitely be felt. There honestly is at least three weeks (probably more) of food remaining, but the daily update will no longer be necessary. So, the question is "how are YOU doing?" Have you found any ways to save on things that you hadn't thought of yet? How far would you go? Recently, I was at Dolans.com and ran across an article that really made me think. It was asking about things you would do to save money (and nowadays, who doesn't look for ways to save money?).

Here are some ideas (and believe me, some of them made me feel a bit squeamish)
* Plan trips around for samples, like at the grocery store, free appetizers at happy hour, or wine tastings.
* Wash clothes in only cold water (over 75% of the cost of using a washing machine is used in the heating of the water)
* Abandon toilet paper and use washable rags or even newspaper (Okay, I am not that desperate yet)
* Stock up on condiments like ketchup and mustard from McDonald's or other fast food restaurants
* Toilet train your cat (kitty litter can be expensive)

There were others posted there, but it did make you think that desperate times call for desperate measures. Some I could do (cold water for laundry), but some I would not (I don't have a cat at our home). I am not advocating living life on the cheap, but there are ways that you could stretch you dollar further and pay down your credit card debt sooner or have for the future like retirement and education for your children.

Have a GREAT day!

24 . . . Hours a Day,

If your thoughts are concerned with eliminating credit card debt, it may seem that is how much time you spend on it a day. That is both a good thing and a bad thing: If you spend all of that time worrying and take no action to get you on the path toward being credit card debt-free, then it is a bad thing. However (and there is always a however in life), if it spurns you to ACTION then it is a good thing. If you do nothing, nothing will change.

It Isn't Going To Happen Overnight!

Chances are that your credit card debt did not magically appear overnight. You were doing fine making your minimum payments, but something may have come up (like an emergency crown for your back molar that, despite insurance, sets you back $514.30) and you may have missed a payment. No big deal, right?

Wrong!

The credit card company will slap you with a $39.99 late fee, plus an interest rate hike (not just a temporary one), plus all of the extra interest. Without conscious effort, it does not get better from there. The time to act is NOW! Contact your credit card companies and ASK for a better rate, STOP using your credit cards, and BEGIN the journey to freedom.

By the way, the running total (on day 24) of the 30 day challenge stands at $128.10, and when I was preparing food for dinner last night, a quick inventory revealed that I could stretch this out for another 30 days and I may just do that.

Keep working, TAKE ACTION, and here's to your success!

Fifteen and We Are Halfway There

Wow, still going and the savings add up. Now the total stands at $80.14 and the sweet scent of success can be felt. Last night, a pot of black-eyed peas and rice was scrounged up that will make 4 or 5 meals for the next few days. Not only are those items low cost to purchase (they were already in the pantry), but they are low-fat options for taking my lunch to my day job (which solves a couple of issues at one time). If you work at a job which has a refrigerator available that you can take your lunch in and save money, here are some ideas that you could use that will allow you to survive the day without blowing your budget or diet.
* Try making a pot of soup (better, for some reason, in the cooler months of the year). You can find some great recipes out on the Internet such as places like recipes.com.
*There is always the good old sandwich routine. Buy a loaf of bread, a package of lunch meat and perhaps even some cheese. You will be able to make quite a few meals that work out to be less than $1.00 a meal. When I was a kid, we often would be packed a peanut butter or bologna sandwich. Hey, it has worked for people for years.
* Make some casseroles and take the leftovers. I haven't been as good with eating leftovers until the past few years. Who says that a good meal can only be eaten once?
* There is always a bowl of low-cost ramen noodles. There is a wide host of recipes available as well.
* Frozen dinners and pot-pies give another low-cost option. There is no need to spend a fortune when many of the "bargain" meals can run right at $1.00 per dinner (Hint: You need to keep your eyes open for deals at your local grocery store or Wal-Mart. Look online for specials and coupons as well.

Keep up your success and you will find the money that has been mysteriously slipping between your fingers! You can then eliminate your credit card debt.

Have a great day! Visit my website if you like.

Fourteen = Two Weeks

It is difficult to imagine, but now it is at the fourteen day mark (only shopped for perishables) and the savings now stand at $71.81. That's $71.81 that can be used to eliminate credit card debt and push further toward the path of being debt-free. A few years ago, if one would have asked for $71.81 (okay, let round it to $70) in two weeks time, I would have thought that it would have been impossible to come up with the extra money, but now i am learning that the money is there, you just have to be wiser with the spending of it.

You can find "extra" money as well. You see, you just have to look for it, and you will most assuredly find it. As people are fond of saying that "you do what you have to do", once the mindset is there to save money/pay off credit card debt, the doors will open wide. You will think twice about buying a candy bar on impulse at the checkout lane of the grocery store or when picking up a box of nails from Home Depot: that "only a buck" will add up to wasted money in the long haul. Stores count on consumers to pick up things on impulse. Usually those items are marked up slightly (yes, I can remember when candy bars were bigger and cost only a quarter) if not a lot. Why do you think that there are impulse items at the checkout lanes of Wal-Mart? It certainly isn't that we need those items, it is that the stores need us to help line their pockets with a little more of our hard earned money.

Stand your ground! Buy only what you need and make do on less so that you can enjoy life more. I have lived most of my entire life from paycheck to paycheck when, in retrospect, I could have done without the soda and still lived, and had a lot more to show for life. You can too! I am just trying to be a guide for you (it is the teacher in me that wants to share this with you).

Here's to a happy, successful and financially worry-free life!

(visit here for a free report)

Is Thirteen Unlucky?

Day 13 and now the savings are at $63.47 for the 30 day period. There has only been the need to go to the store for perishables and the excitement builds as the potential savings mounts. Breakfast portrays one of the most important meals of the day, yet it also represents what is normally the least-expensive one. It is a good way to start off your day nutritionally as well as financially. After all, the 30 day goal is to see how much one can save to eliminate credit card debt.

I am not becoming more frugal because I have to: I am beginning to enjoy it because I can. There is a great satisfaction because I am not living as if there is no alternative to being a frugal, money-conscious person, I am starting to gain immense satisfaction knowing that I can live on less, I can save money, and I can demolish my credit card debt which has been suffocating me lo these long years.

Most people drive a car, unlike my father's mother who never drove a day in her life (she didn't need to). One small way that you can save money is something that is often overlooked; your tires. It is important to keep your tires properly inflated because estimates show that that you can cost six cents a gallon. I drive about 300 miles a week. At 22 miles per gallon on my car, my weekly gas consumption is around 13 gallons per week, with a potential savings of $0.81 for the week, or roughly $43 a year. That's $1,075 in 25 years. Every little thing adds up, just be aware of all the ways that you can save so that you can be debt free and financially free faster than you originally though possible.

Have a great day!

A Perfect 10

Wow, one third of the way there and so far, so good. It will take a bit of a ding today because there is one vice that I have (and thank goodness it isn't the expensive habit of smoking): I enjoy a can of Diet Coke in the mornings. I used to buy a bottle of Diet Coke from the local convenience store and waste a buck on there, but now it is a can from a case that I buy occasionally that costs closer to $0.25. That is a savings of $273.75 per year. I am not ready to give up that habit yet, but it may come to that. I know that consumption has been trimmed by at least half.

But we are hear to help you free up money in which to eliminate your credit card debt. Yesterday, we talked about saving with your cellular phone plan. Let's talk about television/cable/satellite spending.

Since the television bill is being paid today, let's talk about television/entertainment spending. Do you need 150 channels and seven channels of HBO and Cinemax. How many movies can you watch at one time? If you are like most people, there are probably a core set of about 4 to 7 channels that you watch on a regular basis. You could easily spend $150 a month on cable or satellite (depending on where you live). I called up my satellite provider and simply asked them if there was any way that I could lower my bill because I was getting a better offer from their competitor. They found me a lower package that got all of the channels that I regularly watch plus I got a three-month free trial of Cinemax. Now, I have a bill of around $70 a month (there are three receivers) and my bill is cut nearly in half. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. Because competition is so fierce out there, they will be willing (usually) to cut you some sort of a deal.

But, you have to ask.

Keep in touch, look for savings everywhere you go so that you can free up money to eliminate your credit card debt. Please visit my website (I have been challenged to have 1,000 visitors in the next week, just visit is all I ask)

Nine is Fine

It is hard to believe that we are up to day nine of the challenge to not spend money at the grocery store needlessly and the total savings now stand at $61.52. And that is just one category that most have each and every month. That savings, after the month, will be used to help eliminate credit card debt. It is amazing that there is so much waste in our lives that we are sitting on abundance when it seems like we are sucked deeper and deeper into financial ruin.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Let's talk briefly about saving on cellular phone service. Fifteen years ago, there weren't that many cell phones (or cell phone companies) around to choose from and you paid a lot for very little. That has changed. You get a lot more talk time for less money than when the cellular phones started to hit the market. It is difficult to go anywhere without seeing people with cell phones in the hands or on their persons. You don't have to spend as much as most do. If you take the time to analyze your cell usage, you may find that you are paying for more than you need. Do you really need everything that is available for your phone? Probably not.

A good tool to use is a cellular phone plan comparison like here. You can find cellular plans that will get you what you need while not paying for what you don't need. I was paying for a much bigger plan than I needed that had over 1,000 minutes of anytime calling. I didn't use nearly that much and went to a smaller plan that saved about $25 a month, or $300 a year. In twenty years, I would have paid $6,000 more than I needed.

$6,000! That would make a dent in the credit card debt and will go a long way. And that is one one small area of saving. You can do it too. Simply spend less than you make and eliminate things that you don't need.

For more ideas, please visit my website.

Have a GREAT day!

So Far, So Good

Four days and counting. Today will be the day that some milk will have to be purchased, but so far no grocery shopping. At $8.33 per day for groceries, the potential savings (and subsequent debt pay down) stands at $33.33. And that is only in four days.

When you develop the mindset to eliminate your credit card debt, there seems to be so many little things that can be done to get you to where you want to be. Save a few cents here, clip a coupon there, eat less (and being gravity-enhanced, it is a good thing to decrease your size)...there are so many things that, on the onset, seem trivial and trite, but they weave together to form unbreakable cables of strength that you never knew that you had.

There are occasions that my family goes out to eat. It used to be a daily occurrence, but now, most food is eaten at home. One thing that I know adds up is merely the price of a soda. Twenty years ago, a soda with your meal might be 75 cents, but $1.79 seems to be the going rate, even at McDonald's. With a family of four, it could be $7.16 + tax that could be saved, or, at once a week, it figures to $372.32 + tax. I don't know about you, but I always could use an extra $372. Now I know where to find it.

You are always welcome to visit my website or for a great program to help you eliminate your credit card debt, click here.

Two Down, Twenty-Eight To Go

So, here it is and two days of the challenge that I set for myself have now passed. Luckily, there were no perishables yet to purchase (but that will change by the weekend) and the pantry slowly gets cleaned out and the savings slowly add up. For those of you mathematically inclined, it works out to be $8.33 a day that I have budgeted for food. With two days of no grocery shopping, it now stands at $16.67. This is money that will be used to pay do credit card debt and bring it closer to the day when there is no more credit card debt.

You have to watch everything that goes on about credit card interest rates, terms. No longer will you throw away the mail thinking that it is merely junk when it may be a letter that is informing you of an important change to your credit card terms and conditions. I received one of those letters once and am glad that it was read. It seems that the card was changing from being a fixed rate (I believe that it was 8%) to being a variable rate. Keep in mind that this was back when the interest rates were on the rise and it was going to mess up what I thought was going to be a set amount due each month to a varying amount. When I ran through the numbers, it was going to end up costing more in the long run. I wrote the issuing bank and said “no thanks” to the change, and they ended up closing the account.

If I would have only knew the things that I do now, I would have opened each and every statement that I got to make sure that I wasn’t being taken advantage of. Credit card companies know that most people don’t even read through their mail and they count on that so that they can make more money, either in interest or in penalties. Think that your bill is due on the 3rd of each month? You had better check your mail to make sure that they didn’t make it the 1st. That way the credit card company could stick you with a late penalty, which is nothing but pure profit for them.

For a great program that you can use to pay less and eliminate your credit card debt, click here or visit my website.

Shopping Tips

Believe it or not, there is an art to grocery shopping and saving some serious money (that you can use, of course) to pay off your credit card debt. Since the focus lately has been on food, perhaps some pointers will assist.

* Never shop on an empty stomach. You have a tendency to be attacted to a lot of different things when you are hungry. You might pick up some bakery item (and a little extra weight) or something that you really didn't need, perhaps because something caught your eye (and you thought that advertising didn't work)

* Have a list. One of the biggest money-management mistakes is that you could dash into the store "just to pick up a gew things for dinner" and the next thing that you know, you have a cart that is brimming and full and expensive: it is best to have a list and to stick with it.

* Look high and low. Believe it or not, the best values are not at eye level. Those are the coveted spots for items that have a high mark-up, but are not necessarily the best thing for your wallet.

* Shop later in the day for meat. Often, the meat department will mark down some of their meat if it hasn't moved by four o'clock, They figure that some profit is better than no profit

* Plan your shopping. If you have a favorite grocery store, you probably know how it is laid out. With your list in hand, go only to the areas that you have to go to get the things that are on your list. Walking up and down each and every aisle may be good exercise, but the longer that you are in a store, the more you will buy. Grocery stores count on that.



Remember, the goal of grocery shopping should be to purchase economical foods to fuel you body. You want to save a little bit of money so that you can have more for your credit card debt elimination program. For a great program, click here, or visit my website.

A Penny Saved...

Have you ever seen a penny on the ground and left it there thinking "it's only a penny, it isn't worth it"? You may want to think again. The little things quickly add up to be big things, especially when there is compound interest involved. If you were to save one dollar per week (which is a mere $0.14 a day), over a twenty year period, that would add up to be $3,276.14 (with a 10% compounded interest). Divide that amount by 14 and it works out to be $234.01. I can only imagine that if you were doing laundry and found $234 in a pocket, you wouldn't throw it away. Saving those pennies is actually worth it. In reverse, if you were to charge a dollar or two a day on coffee and snacks, with the interest charged, it could end up costing you even more. I found the calculator at David Bach's site to be a real eye-opener. Now I know why people use coupons, attempt to find the lowest price on things -- it all adds up!

Let's just use a simple example. Where I work during the day, we have vending machines that offer candy bars, soda, and the like. If someone find themselves hungry for a snack (or skipped breakfast or lunch), they can always find refuge in the vending machine. A candy bar costs $0.85 and a soda costs $1.10 (your findings may differ slightly). $1.95 a day for five days equals $9.75 a week (let's round it to $10 for simplicity sake. If you were to take that $10 a week, invest it at 10% and compound it for twenty years, that candy bar and soda habit adds up to $32,761.30. Now that is one expensive habit (and you though it was trivial). We will explore little things that you can do to free up cash to help pay down your credit card debt.

More at my website.

It Takes Discipline

No matter what strategy you will use to lower your credit card debt, there is no "easy" way to hold it...it takes discipline. I realize that it may take some conditioning to get you to whee you have developed some financial muscles to overcome a rising wall of debt, it can be done. You wouldn't expect an eighteen month-old to be able to run a lap around the local high school track: it is a progressive thing. You don't have to have all of the answers at the very beginning. Nobody does.

The key is to do something. Ignoring the challenge does not make it go away. In fact, that is probably the worst thing that you can do...nothing. Do something. Decide to end your reliance on high interest credit cards once and for all and do something. Maybe it would begin with a taking inventory of what you owe. Knowledge is power. Read articles on the Internet about it. Talk to others about it. Arm yourself with knowledge and begin to build those financial muscles so that you will learn more, be able to do more, and gain confidence in the process. Use the little successes to build upon and have even greater successes. I began with analysis and I began by using a budget. At first I had to guess at it, but I used tools like the budgeting tools at mint.com.
Over time, I saw patterns of spending begin to emerge and I tackled one challenge at a time. There is a lot more out there too.

I will begin talking about some ways to save money so that you can begin to free up cash to help in your credit card debt elimination.

More at my website.

To Consolidate or Not

At times, it can be extremely tempting to consolidate all of your debt into one, convenient payment. Let's look at some pros and cons

PROS

* Instead of having multiple payments to juggle and figure out which one gets paid at which time, when you consolidate, you will have a single payment to be made at one place.
* You know how much interest you are paying each month because it is all in one convenient location.
*Having everything in one place will show you immediate progress toward the whole.

CONS
* Depending on the interest rate that you get for your consolidation, you may end up paying more for everything in the long run.
* Once you have consolidated, it is much more difficult to get the interest rate lowered.
* The intimidation of one monthly lump sum may seem a bit unsettling at first.

I was fortunate the first time through (you will recall that I have been saddled with debt many times in my life) that I was able to secure a personal loan at my credit union. My father was kind enough to cosign for me and I was able to get a low rate with a decent monthly payment. It was certainly lower interest rate than I was paying combined on my credit cards. If you have someone who can cosign for you, a personal loan might be a good thing for you (but I am not in the position to offer you loan advice).

Read more at my website.

Highest Interest First

For The Very Disciplined

There is a school of though promoted out there that, when one exams it for the long-term effects, is an extremely good program. It makes sense because you will save money by paying less to eliminate you debt by paying the debts that have the highest interest rate first, thereby immediately lowering the interest in dollars by paying the highest percentage interest debts first. This is promoted by John Cummuta and if you are a highly disciplined individual, you will find that this is an excellent program. Unlike last time when we discussed paying the lowest balance first and building on that success to build momentum to pay off the next-lowest bill, that plan advocates the strength in conditioning and has rewards of seeing you credit card debt eliminated chunk by noticable chunk. In the short term, you see success happen fairly rapidly. In the long term, you may have paid more interest (money) to see this success.

Let's face it: if you were extremely disciplined, you probably would not be in the hunt for credit card debt elimination. This plan has you analyze all of your debt (not just your credit card debt) and rank them by interest rates. The theory goes that if you spend every extra dollar eliminating the highest interest first, you will pay less in interest because that balance diminishes more quickly. From a strictly analytical view, this plan does eliminate your debt well. While you may not pay off the credit card with the lowest balance first, you may pay it off before the highest interest credit card is paid off, but then you will have more money each month available to pay down that higher interest.

Next, we will examine consolidation. Visit my website for more information.

Which Way Is Best?

When it comes to developing a plan to eliminate your credit card debt, there is a plethora of advice out there: some advocate paying your lowest balance first, some will preach about highest interest balances first, while others advocate evenly splitting your payment between all of the cards. Which one is right? Yes. In other words, there are good points to each method and one can argue in favor of each one, because it a certain style fits your personality, then that is the one for you.

Paying Your Lowest Balance First.

This one has some merit. Here is the premise of this plan: Let's say you have five credit cards, all with various balances and all with different interest rates attached. Just for illustrative purposes, we'll suppose that the minimum payment on each add up to $175 per month. You have scrimped and saved and you have an extra $75 per month (for a total available of credit card reduction cash of $250 per month). With this plan, you would pay just the minimum on four of the credit cards and apply the entire amount towards the card with the lowest balance. Once that card is paid off, you would then apply the extra $75 plus the amount that you had been paying on the lowest balance credit card to what you were paying on the next-lowest balance. When the second lowest balance card is paid off you add all you were paying on that one to the next one, and so on.

The cool thing about this is that you can see some measurable results in a fairly quick (relatively speaking) fashion. This helps to add to the feeling of success and may help you to stay the course. Some feel very strongly about this method. You can find more here.

Tomorrow, we will look at paying the highest interest cards first. Visit my website for more information.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

When first you look upon the burden of the mounting credit card debt, it may (or may not) be a task that seems formidable at best. Just as a beginning runner may look at the course of 26.22 miles for a marathon as un-doable, sometimes it is a matter of taking it one step at a time: perhaps you start by jogging to the end of your driveway, then to the end of the street, then to the end of the next block, and you build on your confidence of doing more and more until a five mile run seems like a walk in the park (pun intended). Such is true with credit card debt.

You can "build your endurance" for eliminating credit card debt. Perhaps, if you are in a deep dependence on a credit card, use the credit card with limits, or use it every other purchase...you just have to start somewhere. My use curtailed gradually in the months before I ceased using them altogether (with the exception of one department store card that I use every three months or so, but only when I already have the cash to pay for the purchase, but I use the card to help my credit score), I began to use them less. It wasn't because I had developed a "master plan", but as the limits on the cards were reached, I quit using them (not because I wanted to, but there was nothing left to use on the cad). The constant late fees, high interest rates and the beginning cacophony on menacing phone calls all began to wear on the nerves. I finally had to shout (to myself) ENOUGH!! I then quit cold turkey and started using only my checking debit card. If I didn't have enough, I would do without. It is amazing when I look back at how much I wasted. The truth of the matter is that if I can do it, so can you. Read more at my website.

Credit Card Debt Elimination, A Break

CELEBRATE!!

Getting out of credit card debt can be a long, tedious, and sometimes overwhelming process. To be sure, it takes months, even years of steady, applied discipline. Keeping track and negotiating lower rates takes time and energy. If you have/had an extensive list of credit cards, it can be downright daunting. One thing that I have found that helps me to stay focused and to keep the edge sharp and clear is to take occasional break from the grind. I am not advocating pulling out your credit cards and going all-out with a limousine-chauffeured event (complete with an open bar). You certainly don't want to erase everything that you are working toward and then some, but I have found that as I reach a milestone (say, paying off a credit card, or reaching a certain percentage of credit card debt erased) it helps to keep the focus my celebrating in a small way. I may enjoy an inexpensive meal at one of my favorite restaurants (I now rarely eat out, unlike a daily routine years ago) or purchase a book that I have had my eye on (it has a more lasting effect). It may be something as simple as watching your favorite show on television, talking a walk in a park that you haven't visited in a while, or spending time with those that you love. Whatever. Just take a brief respite from the difficult goal that you have set for yourself and you will find that you will have more overall zest for that credit card debt elimination.

Take a break! Enjoy life! (But don't forget to get back into the game).

See more at my website.

Credit Card Debt Elimination, Part V

You Are Not Alone

Sometimes we may feel like we have to be a maverick, we have to do things our own way, we have to forge our own path. That's all good and fine in some things, but when it comes to credit card debt, we may need some support. Sure, it would be nice to have somebody else sweep in and erase our debt, but the probabilities of that happening are two: slim and none. You got yourself into this debt (albeit not entirely your fault because the whole industry is geared to draw you deeper and deeper in debt and in less control of your financial life) and you will succeed in getting yourself out of debt. Just as you don't just wake up one day and find yourself deep in debt, you won't wake up and find yourself out of debt. It came on dollar by dollar, and that is the way it will come off as well.

As it was mentioned yesterday, you can always find help with books, or consumer credit counseling services, but sometimes just having a non-judgemental friend to air out your concerns with can do a great bit of good. A good friend will listen to you, and offer support (although I never ask for them to pay my bills) and encouragement when you need it most. My father was very supportive of me after the first divorce and he was kind enough to offer to put up some of his stock as collateral for me to take out a low-interest loan at our credit union so that I could pay off a large debt that I had (it was money that I owed the IRS, but that is a whole different story in itself). Bottom line: I had support and that meant all of the difference in the world to me.

You can read more at my website. More later.

Credit Card Debt Elimination, Part IV

Getting Help

There is hope in getting help for your credit card debt elimination, you just have to do a bit of homework in finding the people/company/resources to get you to whee you want to be. I know that I spent countless hours on the Internet, sometimes late at night, sometimes very early in the morning, but I know that it was more hours than I was used to spending. If you want to meet with somebody in your community, you can use the consumer credit counseling service. The first time in getting help with my debt challenge, I contacted my local chapter of the service. They assisted me in analyzing my spending habits, looking for ways to save money, and developing a budget that was reasonable. I would send them a monthly check for a certain amount, and they would apply it to my creditors. I got a nice spreadsheet showing me how much each month was going to each credit card company that I owed money to. When one was paid off, the money that was allocated to the now paid-off card was split evenly between the rest. It took a while to see any results, but after several months, my lowest one was paid in full and I started seeing the remaining ones diminish at a faster rate.

I guess that I didn't learn my lesson well after the cards were all paid in full because a year after I was free from them, I found myself lured into the credit card lie again. (It didn't help that I was also single again and attempting to furnish my new digs. I had been given a beautiful piano/keyboard near the end of my second marriage, along with the payments on it). I couldn't make those payments despite working nearly seventy hours a week. I had weekends off, so you do the math. Needless to say, the credit company that had loaned us the money was eager for payment or repossession of the piano. Working as much as I was, I finally go hold of them and they showed up to repossess the piano at two o'clock in the morning, just minutes after I got done working my second job. It was a very humbling and eye-opening experience to say the least. At that point, I was determined not to let that ever happen again. I was ready to once-and-for all eliminated my credit card debt.