How One Mom Paid Off Credit Card Debt of Over $20K in One Year

First things first, let’s take a look at how I landed myself into debt. Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. Savings were something dreams were made of. When my parents managed to tuck a chunk of money away, Murphy’s Law always seemed to come knocking and they had to spend it immediately on something that had broken.

Extra money was a rare treat that either burned a hole in our pockets or was eaten up by yet another emergency. However, despite living paycheck to paycheck, my parents didn’t have a lot of debt.

But still, without a lot of extra money or discussion about debt in my family, I didn’t really learn about financial literacy.

I thought I had a good handle on money until I went to college. Student loans, a car payment, and credit cards all seemed perfectly normal to have. You needed to have them, or so I thought at the time.

I misunderstood “living within your means” to mean you could use credit as long as you could pay your minimum monthly payment. I fell down the plastic rabbit hole to buy tickets to a concert I wanted to attend with my friends or go out to dinner when I wanted. I was getting approved for credit cards I shouldn’t have been applying for. When I graduated college, I had three or four credit cards and a ton of student loans.

Next, came my wedding, which further buried me into my debt hole. My idea of sticking to a wedding budget was not to spend extravagant sums of money, but it also wasn’t based on money we actually had. Without thinking twice, we financed our wedding, and let’s just say, we’re still paying it off nearly 10 years later.

Last summer, I stared at my computer screen and wondered how I maxed out one of my credit cards for the umpteenth time. It felt like we were riding a debt carousel. Round and round we went, never making any real progress toward paying our debt off. Earlier that year, we stopped making purchases with credit cards, but we still couldn’t seem to make a dent in the balance.

With over $80,000 in debt (not including the mortgage!), I knew something had to give. There had to be a way to become debt-free.

It was frustrating to realize how much of our hard-earned money went toward debt each month. We needed to change our mindset about money, change our spending habits, and follow a realistic budget. It was scary at first, but it worked!

In one year, we’ve paid off over $20,000 in debt without doing anything too extreme.

The first step we took to pay down $20K of debt was to make a real plan that we could follow and track our progress. We read My Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and took his course. Through the course, we learned how to set up a small emergency fund and how to work together to create monthly budgets that assign every dollar to something before the money arrives. It’s much harder to spend it frivolously when it is already spoken for.

We listed all of our debts and put them in order from smallest to largest. We pay the minimums on everything and apply any extra money from the month to the top debt. When the first one is paid off, then that monthly payment is rolled onto the next one in line. It’s called a debt snowball, and focusing our payments in this way made it possible to pay off four credit cards in less than one year.

We have two more to go before we can knock out my student loans and pay off our car.

More from Mom.com: 7 Things We Did to Pay Off $80,000 of Debt

Along with finally taking the time to learn about our finances, we realized how to live within our means and not rely on credit cards. Then, we made a plan to chip away at our debt. Here are 11 more steps we took to pay down our credit card debt of over $20K:

• We didn’t take on new debt. If we don’t or won’t have the cash for it, then it’s a no-go. We cut up our credit cards and close the accounts once they’re paid off.
• We streamlined accounts. We simplified our bank accounts with one checking and one savings account. This made it easier to keep track of our money flow.
• We assessed current bills. We reviewed services and plans (such as life insurance, cell phone, car insurance, etc.) and shopped around for better coverage as we were able.
• We set up auto-scheduled payments on nearly all of our bills. No more late fees to worry about.
• We created extra cash, and sold things we don’t use anymore.
• We use subscriptions for household essentials. We set up Amazon Subscribe & Save for basic household items, such as toilet paper. Fewer trips to the store means less gas used plus we’re less likely to buy things we don’t need. (I do recommend price-checking the cost of Amazon Prime and the items before you do this, of course, as some essentials may not be cheaper with a subscription.)
• We buy used. We shop consignment sales, price shop, and use cashback shopping apps.
• We make meal plans. Menu planning, bulk shopping, and freezer cooking have all helped us cut down on our grocery costs and expenses.
• We budget for extra spending money. It’s easier not to blow the entire budget if we build in fun money. The limits made us plan better.
• We created sinking funds. Each month we set aside money for certain expenses (i.e., house repairs, car repairs, gifts, etc.) to have when needed, rather than scrambling when something needs to be fixed or the kids get invited to a birthday party. It makes a big difference in fighting that “Murphy’s Law” rule that always seems to crop up when you have extra cash on hand.
• We posted our debt progress in the living room where we can see it. It’s motivation to keep lowering the balance, bringing us closer to our debt-free date!

Sometimes it is hard not to go on a shopping spree or go on lots of outings with the kids. When we first started focusing on improving our finances, we had a lot of momentum. It’s a bit slower now, which can feel discouraging at times. When that happens, I like to think about what we will be able to do once we’re debt-free.

All the money that goes toward credit bills and loans will eventually be available for other things, like a down payment on a bigger house or a nice family vacation. Starting was scary, but sticking to it is paying off.

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