My husband and I are really getting into paying off our credit card debt, which is a great thing.

We have made some progress already, even though we have only been doing it for a couple months.

Everyday I log into the credit card accounts that we've paid off just to see that beautiful zero balance. LOL!, I can't help it, it just feels good!

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 09:56 pm:

I know exactly what you mean, Jennifer. Since I started actually saving money at ING, I can't wait until I get the e-mail to tell me they've posted each month's interest, so I can add it to my Quicken records.

Yes, paying down credit cards is hard, and extremely worthwhile. And it is very, very hard to not use the credit card when you see something you'd really like to have for yourself or one of your kids, or your dh - but that is also worthwhile. And that sense of accomplishment you get when you see those balances going down makes it a whole lot easier to say "I don't really need that!"

I don't know what system you're using, but every credit advisor I've read says to concentrate on paying down the highest interest account first, and then the next highest, and so on.

But while you're doing that, don't forget to try to actually save some money to have available if you have an emergency, so you can using savings instead of a credit card to pay for it That's why I comfortably recommend ING to people - they are FDIC insured, have no minimum balance requirements, require only $25 to open an account, no fees, and pay an interest that is pretty much equivalent to any short term (up to 3 or 5 year) CD that I have seen, but with no withdrawal limits or qualifications (except that deposited money can't be withdrawn for about a week or 10 days after you have deposited it). You link the ING account to your checking account, and can only transfer money between those two accounts - and it takes 2-3 business days for a transfer to take place (which tends to cut down on impulse spending better than having your savings in the same bank where you have your checking account so you can get it immediately). Do think about starting to save a little money so that you have that "just in case" cushion - watching that balance grow is as addictive as watching credit card balances go down.

By Bellajoe on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 08:10 am:

Good for you! It feels good, doesn't it?

We just paid off 2 of our credit cards, which were the ones with a huge balance on them. We are very excited. Now we have to concentrate on not building it up again!

Congratulations!

By Karen~admin on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:29 am:

My friend always says *debt is bondage*. We are trying to get rid of all of our debt (excluding the mortgage & normal living expenses), especially since I am not working anymore. It IS a great feeling when you don't see your money going out to *revolving* credit....that's money in the bank right there.

By Jelygu on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 04:52 pm:

Thanks Ginny, for the advice. We are doing the Dave Ramsy thing, and he says pay the smallest off first. Doesn't matter too much though because most of our debt has the same interest rates. We have our emergency fund, so hopefully we are good to go!

I got started because my online banking shows your net worth, after the credit card balances are subtracted from the money you actually have. That was a frightening sight, and enough to motivate us!

By Rayelle on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 06:57 pm:

Good for you! I get excited about that kind of stuff too.