First things first, I just want to say this. You DON’T NEED another gym outfit. You DON’T need that 3rd night this week of Door Dashing your $15+ meals. Coming from a girl who got her first two credit cards and treated herself and her friends to any restaurants we craved, had TWO gym memberships for absolutely no reason and went on all the fun vacations I could dream of – all with the idea that “i’ll just pay it off overtime”. At the time, I was working as a waitress, where I could easily make $200+ a night. So I thought, this can’t be SO bad, right? WRONG.

Here’s where it gets bad – my debt was at roughly ~$10000 (Yes you’re all probably thinking, how the HECK did you let that happen?!”). Being naive, not doing research, and not understanding what the heck an APR is. After about 2 years of credit card debt, I had already had at least $2000 of interest fees tacked on. If you’re in the same boat I was in, I want to leave you with some quick key tips on taking control of overwhelming credit card debt.

• Monthly Minimum Payments

I don’t care what your credit card company ASKS for, give them more! They want to charge you a small minimum payment which sounds great for your bank account at the time, but in the long run will cost you more in interest. The goal is to eliminate as much of the debt as possible, not slowly in small payments. Usually the interest charge will end up being almost as much as that minimum payment (my minimum for a $5000 credit card was about $120. But monthly interest costed me ~$90).

• Stop Using Your Cards

No brainer, right? Eh. I’ve had days where I’d drive all the way to the grocery store and realize I left my debit card at home and thought, well I have my credit card, so maybe I’ll just put it on there? It seems harmless, as long as you remember to immediately pay it back when you get home. Even small purchases, like a soda or a snack. Those might go right under your nose when it comes to paying it back. You will more than likely be self sabotaging yourself if you don’t cut yourself off from your cards completely.

• Budget Your Money

When I was a waitress coming home with cash daily, I never realized how easy it was to spend it. A few dollars here and there, eventually spending every dollar I made the previous nights. In comparison, working an 8-4 job with a set income, I have been able to construct a budget for myself based on my pay I get bi-weekly. And surprisingly I’ve made most of my debt paying progress with this job. It started with looking at a new month on the calendar, marking my paydays, marking days where bills are due, and adding up income vs. bill spending. I was SHOCKED when I found out how much extra money after bills I should have! All the small purchases here and there that I didn’t realize were impacting that total so much. Hundreds of dollars.

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