Like a lot of Americans, I am struggling to get my debt load under control. Some debt is manageable, but mine had gone from $0 three years ago to almost $14,000. I am not going to go into the whys and wherefores here, because this is a positive post!!

Here's my happy news, this month, I will get my total credit card debt (personal and business) under $10,000! YEAH! It's been an uphill struggle, even more so in the last few months, but I am committed that I will learn to live a less-leveraged lifestyle. Here's my personal four point plan, based on a number of sources.

1) Cease charges on all credit cards. Pay cash unless it is a dire emergency or a business purchase. If credit MUST be used, then you must commit to paying it off within 60 days, 30 if you can manage it. In fact, leave your cards at home in a desk drawer if possible. If you haven't got it on you, you can't make an impulse purchase. While you are charging on the cards, you can't pay them off.

2) Go the the bank once a week and get out $100 or $200 cash. MAKE YOURSELF stick to this amount for all small purchases (coffee, gas, milk, lunch, postage, etc.) If you pay cash for everything, you will automatically start to think more about each purchase you make. For some reason, we do not acknowledge the swiping of a debit or credit card as money spent like we do when cash leaves our hands and we SEE that hundred dollars disappear.

3) Shop interest rates and transfer balances to lower rate cards AFTER you read every bit of the fine print. Make sure whatever you pay in balance transfer fees does not eat up your savings in interest.

4) Decide how much you can afford to pay TOTAL every month. Then allocate the lion's share of this amount to the highest interest rate card FIRST, regardless of the total amount owed on any card. Pay just over minimums on the remaining cards. Then move that larger payment amount to the next highest rate card and so on.


There are a huge number of personal finance blogs out there and lot of good advice to be had. This is just what's working for me. Now I am going to go back to working :)