How I Escaped My Credit Card Debt Woes

For about the last decade I’ve been struggling with credit card debt. It hung over me like a dark cloud, and there were sleepless nights when I wondered if there would ever be a way out of the mess I had created. It took me a lot time before I found a way to dig myself out of the situation; up until that point I had been making things worse. What follows is a description for what worked for me. I can’t say that it will work for other people, but there is going to be no harm in considering my tips.

How I Escaped My Credit Card Debt Woes

Here are the steps I took that led me out of credit card debt:

• Probably the most important thing that I did was sat down and really looked at my financial position. I must have spent a good five hours on this one Sunday afternoon. Writing everything down on paper might sound like an unnecessary hardship but it really did make a difference to me. It meant that I could see everything a lot more clearly than before. I wrote all my expenses and income down on the paper – I went through it with a toothcomb to make sure that I wasn’t missing anything. I also carefully looked at my credit card bill to work out things like the amount of interest I was paying – this scared the life out of me.
• Once I had everything down on paper I went through my expenses to find things I could eliminate. By doing this I managed to free up £200 a month that I could then put towards my credit card bill. I didn’t have to sacrifice much. I decided to sit in one night at the weekend instead of going out and that saved me about £100. I also cancelled a couple of subscriptions; one of these was for a gym subscription that I haven’t used in ages.
• The next thing that I did might sound a bit silly, but it turned out to be really effective. I made up a contract with myself and signed it. I then stuck this contract on the wall of my home office to remind me. In this contract I agreed to the budget restrictions I’d decided on and I also made a solemn oath not to accumulate any more debt. Somehow signing this contract had a huge impact on me and I was able to stick to it – before I had absolutely no willpower whatsoever.
• I stopped bringing my credit card with me in my wallet. I left it at home locked in my desk drawer. This removed a lot of temptation for my life. I had an awful habit of impulse buying with my credit card – it never felt like I was really spending money because I was putting it on the plastic. I do not tend to impulse shop when I need to hand over the hard cash.