Like most Americans, I have some credit card debt.
Unlike most Americans, I'm proud of that credit card debt.
All the debt I've accumulated via my credit cards is a symbol of my independence. It was all garnered helping me get through school.
Don't get me wrong - I still had a job in college, and I still had scholarships and student loans... they just weren't quite enough. And I didn't really have family to fall back on. As I've hinted before, my family doesn't exactly recognize me as family 99% of the time, so my mother was too busy paying for most of my older sister's schooling and purchasing brand new cars for her husband and my younger sister.
So with no money left for me, it was time to fall back on some credit cards.
Now that I'm "all grown up" and looking to jump into freelance writing (a field that can be extremely PUNISHING in the first two years to people without the barest of bills), it's time to hit my debt. Up until now, I'd been making moderate payments above the minimum for my two credit cards, my student loan, and my car payment. But I really want to start hammering chunks of this debt out of the way.
I've been reading about a debt elimination plan known as "snowballing" over at Get Rich Slowly.
Basically, the idea is that you pay the minimum payments on all your debts, EXCEPT for the one with the lowest payoff amount. Put all the other money you've got towards hitting that small debt, then move up the line when you pay it off. The psychological boost is supposed to help you overcome the daunting task of paying off debts and getting that monkey off your back.
Give it a try - I know I will. Hopefully, in a year's time, I'll be close to debt free.
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that snowball thing really works ^_^ it's nice to see young people really concern about money. i'm glad you know the value of a dollar.
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