Monday, August 18, 2008
Opening the Wound....
I am opening the wound.....I am $35,000.00 in credit card debt! I could just kick myself in the behind. I knew better than to allow this to happen. I really don't know what has allowed me to even let this happen. Other than just being plain stupid! My interest rates are in the 20% and I have so many cards it is hard to kept track of them all. I am working on trying to consolidate them into one or two lower interest resources. Once I can get them consolidated I will start a payroll deduction account at my credit union so the amount I pay each month can be directly deposited into an account to strictly pay only my credit card debt. I am going to divide the amount I will be paying by 4 and have that amount direct deposited to the credit card debt account I am opening at the credit union. I will then set up an reoccurring bill payment for those bills to be automatically paid each month. The biggest hurtle I have right now is to get the bills consolidated. If you have any suggestions please comment as I can use all the suggestions possible.
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8 comments:
DLD,
Ah, you are not alone with that amount of debt, there are many who have it. We were lucky this year and were able to pay off our cars and cc's with my husband's bonus, but we are still carrying a $37,000.00 HELOC loan. (Somehow I justify this because it is related to the house, but it is still debt).
The first thing I would try to do is list all of your debts smallest to largest. Try and find some extra money and pay off the first debt. When that is done, take all that extra money and work on debt two. Of course consolidating your cc's to lower interest rates will speed up the process. And, of course, don't charge anymore. Now that can be hard, especially if you are maintaining a home...I know from firsthand. :) If you commit to not charging anymore, I'm sure you'll see your debt go down.
Read, read, read. Some good books out there are All Your Worth, Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace, and any of Mary Hunt's books. Her website is www.cheapskatemonthly.com, and it is very helpful!
I'll help you by cheering you on..I know you can do it!!
Sharon
Thanks for the support Sharon! I will check out those books. I will diffently need the cheering section!! Much Thanks!
DLD
DLD,
I concur with Sharon--very sound advice. Read Dave Ramsey--the baby steps will give you hope.
You can do this--one baby step at a time!
Elizabeth
Regardless of the large amount, the good thing is you are making moves immediately to take action on this debt. People can sit there and ask you how did it get so big or where did you spend your money, but that does not help and they do not understand. You do what you gotta do! Good luck and I look forward to viewing in on your chronicled journey!
Thank you so much Doctor S for the comment. It means so much to have people respond by commenting on my blog. When I thought about starting this blog that was something I really didn't think about. How does a person feel when you have stranger out there cheering you on. Even though you are all stranger to me I feel like I am not alone and I can really do this. I am not a dumb person....I just made some dumb choices. I WILL fix this though and vow to NEVER allow this to happen again! Thanks to my cheering section!
Hey DLD - Congratulations for taking your first big step.
It's always a bit scary to finally look at your debt and see how bad it really is.
But you have to do it if you want to make headway.
Ever since starting my blog, I've been hyper-conscious of where my money is going... and whether my debt is going up or down every month.
And that's a good thing!
Anyway, if you want to see the process I've used these last 10 months to wipe out $31K, you can check out this post:
5-Step System for Paying Off Debt
Ryan
That is what we are here for. Share our stories and share knowledge. Good luck!
Hi DLD,
You really are on the right path. I know it's hard to lay those numbers out there, but good for you for taking that step. I will definitely be adding you to my blogroll and watching your jounrey. Take Care
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