" Money is n’t everything , and it does n’t land felicity — but it does make your biography easier when you have your finances in order . "
With inflation on the rise, it’s never been easier to charge groceries, that concert ticket, and maybe evenrenton your credit cart. This is all fine and dandy if you’re actually paying what you owe back in a timely manner, but if high interest and spending are growing your credit card balance to anxiety-inducing heights,this type of dangerous debtcan feel like an uphill battle you’re never going to win.
The bad news is, credit card debt can be a tough abyss to come back from. According toBankrate, the average American has three credit cards and nearly $6,000 racked up in debt. The good news is if this sounds familiar (and even if your balance is much higher), you aren’t necessarily doomed. Don’t file for bankruptcy just yet. Climbing over the hurdle that is credit card debt takes work — but it’s done every day.
With a solid plan in place, you can find the most effective way to free yourself from the shackles of high-interest debt. If you need a little motivation, theseRedditcommenters are sharing how they paid off their balance.
1.“I’ve had credit cards since I was 18, and I’m 28 now. Through unfortunate times, bad decisions, and a job loss, I racked up $20,000 through my cards in 2020-2022 and felt defeated, depressed, and at the end of my rope. I made a conscious decision to get myself out of the hole I had dug. After a makeshift spreadsheet with all my cards laid out, a budget, sacrifices, and intense work, I finally made my last payment today.”
2.“I paid off almost $20,000 of credit card debt that I had accumulated over the years. I made some really poor financial choices, despite coming from an upper-middle-class family and never ever lacking anything. I learned from my mistakes the hard way. Never again will I make the same mistakes.”
" I do n’t know who needs to see this , but please ensure you handle your deferred payment cards and overall finances with responsibleness . Money is not everything , and it does n’t contribute happiness , but it does make your life easier when you have your finance in order . Do n’t get into debt ! Live within your means . "
— atomic number 92 / Bruxa1111
3.“I carried maxed cards for nearly 15 years. I defeated them all in about two years of concerted effort. I got my bank account to a place where I was secure in never getting an overdraft. Once that was established, every single week, I logged in to all my credit card accounts and paid down whatever I had spent that week. I still used my cards for the points, but I no longer heldnewbalances. Once I paid everything I spent that week, I would see how much was left in my bank account and would dump it on whichever card I was targeting at the time.”
" By watching and focusing on my outgo , being responsible for for paying what I owed , and throwing everything else I had right into debt , I was capable to move quickly . Getting a few hundred dollar bill on to my standing balance every week actuate apace . Every zeroed account statement was celebrated . Failure was not permissible . I continue these practices now and have put a fair amount of money into my emergency monetary fund , saving , and even some investments . "
— u / rassmann
4.“I used a debt management company to get out of $60,000 credit card debt. Got on a five-year plan, credit took a big hit, and four years and eight months later, I was debt free. That was in 2020. At the end of 2021, bought a house.”
— u / riceburner22
5.“After buying my house three years ago, I racked up $50,000 in debt. I was so stressed out! I have a great income, and all my money was going to these bills. I was watching the market and the value of my home and also watching my credit score to get it good enough to take a cash-out to refinance. Finally, I closed on my refinance and was able to pay off $45,000 of it.”
6.“I had been chipping away at my credit card debt for a while and got a 0% for 18 months deal — and was able to transfer all of my remaining debt to that card. The trick is to never use the card you transfer the balance to, pay it on time every month (or they’ll start charging interest), and pay it like a bill. Decide how much is going to that card every month and do what you have to to make it happen.”
" It also assist to pen down the equipoise somewhere you ’re fit to see it and take off your requital each calendar month to help keep you motivated . Also , be aggressive with the amount you ’re paying . Do n’t transplant your symmetricalness and conceive it ’s next year ’s problem . That ’s how they get you . "
— atomic number 92 / TheFantasticAspic
7.“When I was younger, I got my first few credit cards, and because I saw that I had credit available, I bought what I wanted even if I didn’t need it. In a short time, my credit cards were maxed out to the tune of almost $10,000. I lived paycheck to paycheck for a while because I could only afford to make minimum payments.”
" Finally , last twelvemonth , I got everything give off , and I do n’t buy anything unless Ineedit and can give to pay it back straightaway . I now have almost $ 40,000 in available reference and perhaps a $ 1,000 rest ( I was on holiday last week ) which will be paid off next week . Being costless from debt is such a liberating feeling . "
— u/[deleted ]
8.“I paid off $15,000 in credit card debt. Basically, I cut my expenses, quit drinking, budgeted better for luxuries, got a steady job I could tolerate, regularly paid 1/3 of my paycheck and all extra money [toward my cards], and moved my debt to a lower-interest credit line. It was mostly just a lot of grinding and trying not to focus on the size of the debt overall.”
— u / Dash_Harber
9.“What worked for me was a little handwritten log book where I dedicated a page to each card, with total owed, balance ratio, and interest rate. Then, I attached a gleeful feeling to crossing out the old numbers and replacing with the new lower totals.”
" Every time I pay extra , I was very happy . I did n’t have a specific timeline or goal other than finally save zero . I just focused on how comforting crossing out the act became . "
— uracil / blancaloma
10.“I maxed out balances on some very high-limit cards, so I looked into a personal loan with a payoff of five years. The personal loan amount covered [the entire debt], and the payment was less than all the minimum payments on the cards. If you pay the minimum payment for five years, you wouldn’t pay it off. However, if you pay the loan payment for five years, you pay the loan off.”
11."[To pay off my debt], I’ve done plasma donations. I got $900 for eight donations total, and that knocked out one whole card for me. I don’t love donating plasma, but the money can add up quickly if you’re willing to stick with it. Even just picking up a second job. I was a lifeguard and swim instructor before I got my current job, and I still can work 4-15 hours a week at the pool. It can get me an additional $500 a month sometimes."
" It by all odds sop up pack your schedule with that kind of stuff , but being able to strike hard out credit plug-in debt more cursorily makes it a bit loose to put up with . I dumbfound my higher salaried billet in September , and I started to tackle the $ 6,000 of cite card debt that I had , and I ’m down to $ 1,000 with nice savings , too . "
— u / TooSweetCaroline
12.“I took a loan out when I was $15,000 in debt. Stretched payments over three years with low interest and really hunkered down with my expenses. Ended up paying it off way early. Just had to get out from under the crippling interest rates.”
— uracil / Organization_Wise
13.“I am 30-year-old male, and I once had the bare minimum credit score, due to poor utilization and understanding of [credit cards]. Currently, I am at a steady 820. My recommendations would be to pay off cards in full at the end of each month and keep your credit cards at 1%-10% utilization.”
" If you have many credit lineup and are struggling with paying them , ask your bank and see if you may get a consolidated loan with a down in the mouth interest rate that way you may pay off your debt without losing money . Most banking concern have systems in place where you’re able to get 0 % interest for the first six months for consolidating a loan through them . "
— u / Hefty_Handle_375
14.“I had about $20,000 that I paid off years ago while I was making about 60k per year. I was also considering bankruptcy because the balance just kept going up, and my credit score was tanking. For a couple of years, I was doing a combo of the snowball and avalanche methods. I finally got sick of it and took out a personal loan. That was a game-changer. In retrospect, I wish I had shopped with FCUs because my interest rate was 11% and likely could have been lower. But that gave me one monthly payment and zeroed out my cards. Also slingshotted my credit score into the 700s because the bureaus treat installment loans favorably and revolving credit unfavorably.”
" The pastime and savings were patently braggy , but the most important thing to me was that it put me in a frame of mind where I could treat my citation card like a debit card — watch my transactions like a war hawk and make up them all off every month . No elision . I pop obsessively checking Mint the direction that some people check their notifications . At least for me , seeing the balance at zero and feeling that relief for the first time in years made the cards palpate completely unlike and made it way easy to use them responsibly . "
— uranium / fauquier
15.“Just paid off five credit cards: four of mine and one of my wife’s. It’s been a long time coming, and we were finally able to get that final push across the finish line with refinancing our house, keeping our monthly payment the same, and lowering our interest rate by 1.5%.”
16.“I got a $20,000 personal loan to consolidate my high interest debt. Credit score is 760, and my loan is at 5.2%! This was January of 2022, but most of my credit cards had APRs between 16%-24%. Definitely worth it. My $20,000 owed is now down to $14,000, and I can breathe.”
— u / JenNovaaa
17.“I was about $14,000 in debt as a single parent with an infant, making roughly $35,000 a year. What I did was stop cross spending, using both my credit card and my debit card, and cut everything that was not necessary.”
" I hold all the money that I was paying toward all my credit notice and started deck all the extra hard cash into the personal loan . I did n’t use the exculpation that I had a humiliated interest group charge per unit to slow down my progress . [ My ] six - twelvemonth loanword was pay off in about two geezerhood , and I paid much less in interest . "
— u / Apprehensive_Rope348
18.“It has taken 10+ years to do it, but I am free of any and all credit card debt…finally! To anyone considering getting one or more new credit cards, use caution and only buy the stuff you can afford.”
— u / K1LLINGMACHINE
19.“Worked extra hours this year. Paid off $30,000 credit card debt. Now, I’m debt free but for the mortgage. Happy days for me!”
Note : Some compliance have been edited for length and/or clearness .
