How much did you pay off?
$10,000
How long did it take you?
12 months
How has your life changed?
It's nice not to have the debt hanging over my shoulders. It was never more than I could manage, but I do have that extra money each month to spend however I want.
Why did you decide to become debt free?
I was tired of having that monthly payment, and I wanted to buy a new home soon, but my parents told me that I should save up my down payment. I looked at that bill as getting in my way to save for my down payment and decided to just get rid of it.
How did you do it?
I finally sat down and did a budget. When I did that I realized I had an extra $1000.00 a month. So I put most of that towards my debt, each month. It was just one credit card that I'd used while I was looking for my first job out of college and a little here and there. So it was easy to focus and get it done.
Tips and Tricks
- I stopped eating out as much, except for dates.
- I switched to cash to pay for everything. It made me stop and think about what I was spending. With a debit card, I'd just run it through and not think about what I had just spent.
