3 Steps to Get EXCITED About Paying Off Your Credit Cards
Credit card debt is a problem that most people share. They only add to the number one stressor in people's lives...money! So wouldn't you like to get rid of that stress, live happier, and have more money to spend?
So let's pay off those credit cards. They have to be one of the most depressing things in anyone's life. When you go to pay those bills you can just visualize that money slipping from your pockets, down the drain.
So the question is, how do you get excited about paying off a credit card bill? We do things we're excited about. We adhere more closely to plans we believe in. So here is 3 steps to get excited about paying off your credit cards:
1. Stop using them!
I know this isn't exciting but we'll get there. They are so convenient, so easy, etc. Well they are the reason you are most likely in this position. So stop using them.
Set aside your budget in cash. Make yourself accountable for the money you spend. That plastic card is just too easy to use (they do that on purpose!)
The first step to paying off your debt, is to stop building it up. You can't climb a mountain that continues to grow faster than you can climb. So stop using those credit cards. Use cash.
2. Pay the minimum and add more to 1 card.
I hope you are at least paying the minimum on each of your cards. A late payment is too easy to do and too hard to erase from your credit report. So at the very least pay the minimum on each card. If you want to pay them off faster pay a little bit more on each.
Now add $100, $200 whatever you can spare to one of those cards. Pay that extra ABOVE the your minimum payment. We are going to pay off that card first. Now the question is, which card do you pick?
Conventional wisdom is to pick the one with highest interest rate. If your sole purpose is to save money and you think you can stick by this plan than pick that one. However most people have a high balance on the card with a high interest rate and get discouraged that it never gets smaller. So what to do?
Choose the card with smallest balance and pay it off. The satisfaction that you will get from one less bill, will really get you excited and staying on the plan. Trust me. Now what to do with that extra money you have?
3. Add you extra money to the next smallest card.
Now take that money you are saving from paying the minimum on that paid-off card and add it and the extra $100-200 you were adding on to the next smallest balance. You will now be paying (on card 2) tits minimum balance, the minimum from card 1, AND an extra $100-200.
Do you see what's happening? Your payments to each subsequent card grow and grow. As you keep ripping up credit card bills, your overall happiness grows.
Pretty soon you have no more credit payments and a large excess of money each month (the money that WAS going to debt). What are you supposed to do with the money now? Well read some of my other articles about how to invest it. Good luck!
So let's pay off those credit cards. They have to be one of the most depressing things in anyone's life. When you go to pay those bills you can just visualize that money slipping from your pockets, down the drain.
So the question is, how do you get excited about paying off a credit card bill? We do things we're excited about. We adhere more closely to plans we believe in. So here is 3 steps to get excited about paying off your credit cards:
1. Stop using them!
I know this isn't exciting but we'll get there. They are so convenient, so easy, etc. Well they are the reason you are most likely in this position. So stop using them.
Set aside your budget in cash. Make yourself accountable for the money you spend. That plastic card is just too easy to use (they do that on purpose!)
The first step to paying off your debt, is to stop building it up. You can't climb a mountain that continues to grow faster than you can climb. So stop using those credit cards. Use cash.
2. Pay the minimum and add more to 1 card.
I hope you are at least paying the minimum on each of your cards. A late payment is too easy to do and too hard to erase from your credit report. So at the very least pay the minimum on each card. If you want to pay them off faster pay a little bit more on each.
Now add $100, $200 whatever you can spare to one of those cards. Pay that extra ABOVE the your minimum payment. We are going to pay off that card first. Now the question is, which card do you pick?
Conventional wisdom is to pick the one with highest interest rate. If your sole purpose is to save money and you think you can stick by this plan than pick that one. However most people have a high balance on the card with a high interest rate and get discouraged that it never gets smaller. So what to do?
Choose the card with smallest balance and pay it off. The satisfaction that you will get from one less bill, will really get you excited and staying on the plan. Trust me. Now what to do with that extra money you have?
3. Add you extra money to the next smallest card.
Now take that money you are saving from paying the minimum on that paid-off card and add it and the extra $100-200 you were adding on to the next smallest balance. You will now be paying (on card 2) tits minimum balance, the minimum from card 1, AND an extra $100-200.
Do you see what's happening? Your payments to each subsequent card grow and grow. As you keep ripping up credit card bills, your overall happiness grows.
Pretty soon you have no more credit payments and a large excess of money each month (the money that WAS going to debt). What are you supposed to do with the money now? Well read some of my other articles about how to invest it. Good luck!
