"I focused on the credit card with the smallest balance first and paid the minimum payment on the rest of the cards. Once I paid off a credit card I could take the monthly payment I was making to the paid off card and add it to the minimum payment that I was making on the card with the next smallest balance. Using this system I was able to pay down three credit cards in a little over a year."
It's so simple it's genius.
Now if I could just stop turning right around and maxing my cards out again right after I've made a payment... although I don't really see that happening until after the wedding.
4 comments:
you know, actually, financial planners recommend the same... except you want to focus on the credit card with the highest interest rate and/or highest balance first, instead of the other way around.
-enkeli
I've seen that way recommended before, but that's why John's way is such a "Eureka!" thing for me--paying off the smaller cards first promotes a sense of accomplishment which promotes the stick-with-it-ness necessary to tackle the larger balances. It's a much more ADD-friendly approach. And the bit about adding the monthly payment from one card to the minimum payment for another instead of considering that money free to spend elsewhere--that's something that never would have occurred to me without its being pointed out.
It took only a year? I wonder how much debt he was in. Because I imagine it'll take a lot longer for me. Still, good ideas.
I get the feeling he's single and childless, and thus able to devote more money to paying off the credit cards each month.
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