Eliminate credit card debt
Eliminate credit card debt
Mike got his first credit card when he was in college. By the time he graduated four years later, he not only had a student loan to pay, but he now had some major credit card bills as well. Ten years later, he thinks that he is probably still paying for his spring back from back then. Interest rates and continued spending has put him $20,000 in debt on just his credit cards. While he has excellent credit, it is more difficult to get loans when companies see how much money you owe. He and his wife want to move to a bigger and nicer house within the next several years. Before they can get a higher mortgage, they need to eliminate credit card debt. Granted, that is very much easier said than done.
The very first step that they took to eliminate credit card debt was to transfer some of their balances to 0% interest cards. By doing that simple step, they managed to save almost $40 per month from interest charges. That extra $40 now goes to paying off their balance. Within a year, that means they will has paid almost an extra $500 towards their debt. Mike highly recommends finding a way to transfer some balances to lower interest rates as the first step to eliminate credit card debt.
Also, knowing that he needed to eliminate credit card debt, Mike took on a part-time job in addition to his full-time job. They didn’t see one another as often as they did before, but they have learned to appreciate each other more as well. He didn’t like having a part-time job, but he has managed to put all of those earnings toward their goal - eliminate credit card debt. That was an extra $300 per month that he was able to pay towards their cards. He is quite a bit more tired than he used to be with working 2 jobs, but he know that he will be sleeping in a nicer house before too long.
Mike is absolutely determined to eliminate credit card debt before it controls their lives. It has for this long and he has grown way too tired of it. Some friends of his filed for bankruptcy right before the laws changed. That was their easy way to eliminate credit card debt. He personally could not do that: he has maintained an excellent credit score for this many years and he take pride in that.
He has chosen to take responsibility for and eliminate his credit card debt the traditional way. If he has debt, it is his fault. All of his credit card debt was from purchasing things, not from medicals bills or items he could not help. He accrued it and he will eliminate credit card debt the honest way. It may take him longer to eliminate credit card debt than his friends did, but he will do it.
Mike and his wife may need to pinch some pennies and tighten their budgets in order to eliminate credit card debt, but they will manage. They’re determined.
