I’ve never really been irresponsible with money, but it’s so easy to get in trouble with credit cards. I knew it was time to get my finances in order the minute I got my first call from a collection agency telling me I was in delinquency. So I looked on the web for more info to find ways to fix my problem and I found some methods on how to handle the situation.
I printed up all my credit card statements and just about had a heart attack! I had no idea my interest rates were so high! I now could see that the new dining room furniture set I’d just bought was costing me much more than I thought. It was time to really get this sorted out. I also didn’t know how bad my debt was, and quickly totaled it up to see the amount was in the $15,000 range.
My reading lead me to destroy all of my cards. I grabbed a pair of tough scissors and went to town, cutting those things up into the smallest shreds. I had a lot of fun with this, cutting them this way and that, so they ended up all over the place. They ended up sucked up into my dyson upright vacuum cleaner. Putting the vacuum away, I felt totally liberated.
Next I organized my debts in order of which ones had the highest and lowest balances. If you pay off the lowest balances first, you can snowball the effect of paying off your debts a lot quicker. So I did that, and in my very first month killed one debt. As time went by more and more credit cards were successfully paid off. By the end of year 3, I had only two cards left!
Next I phoned my remaining creditors and told them I was insisting they lower my credit rating. I told them if they didn’t, I’d move the balance to another card. After being transferred to different agents, both card issuers agreed, and I managed to get both APR’s down to only 8.9%! All I had to do was ask. This made paying the two cards off even easier since I wasn’t adding a big chunk of finance fees each month.
Now I’ve learned how to spend wisely. If I can’t pay with cash, I can’t afford it. I still keep my cards a few cards open for emergencies and it also is helping to improve my credit rating, but I won’t ever go back to the reckless spending like before.
The feeling from taming your debt is so amazing. I know now I’ll never get calls again from debt collectors, and I can sleep nice and easy every night on my comfy full size loft bed.
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