Debt Free, We Will Be

Happy 2025 Everyone!

Typically at the beginning of the year, everyone reflects on the previous year. as well as. set new intentions for the upcoming year. I am providing my fellow pals with an update into my own debt free journey. If you watch my YouTube video here, I go into depth about specific ways I lessened my consumer credit card debt by 50%. Remember, I don’t give specific numbers because personal finance is truly personal, but I still want to be honest with things I have done to get this point.

• Call the credit card companies to lower you APR and/or increase your credit limit

  • I have read Ramit Sethi’s book “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” multiple times and have even completed the workbook twice (life shifts). He provides scripts how how to lessen your APR and get out of annual fees. Even if I was not able to lower my APR, I was able to increase my credit limit, which lowered my debt to income ratio.

• Be okay with consolidation and closing accounts

  • At one point in my life, I would have decided to chase the travel points and card rewards but I realized that provided me with a false sense of accountability and control of my finances. Some people will say close all the credit accounts; other might say pay them off and don’t use them but once a year. Personally, I was okay with 1) keeping my most used accounts 2) minimizing the amount of cards open 3) keeping my oldest cards.

    • Keeping my most used accounts got me down to five cards with four companies. I essentially removed my store cards (think Ulta, Old Navy, Victoria Secret) and closed cards that I couldn’t even remember why I got them and the rewards were very bleh.

    • This also minimizes the amount of cards I have. It’s a win-win for me because I am able to also stay up to date financially and allow myself to keep an eye on my credit reports and decrease the chances of me not knowing which accounts are mine.

    • My first card ever on my own (meaning no authorized user) was Discover. My other cards are American Express, USAA and the Apple Card. The Apple Card will be the next on my list after I continue to read up on the aftermath of the Goldman Sachs/Apple agreement, but all of my other cards have rewards and protections that work tremendously for me and have for a while.

• Budget with cash

  • Cash is Queen! For eight months, I would withdraw all of the money I need for my budget. I left the budgeted amount in my checking account that I couldn’t pay cash and it truly did help me organize what was going in and what was going out.

• Track Expenses

  • For three months, I tracked my expenses like a hawk. I did this because it truly allowed me to see what was going in and what was coming out of my account. I realized I can be an emotional eater, I spent way too much on subscriptions and I buy too many groceries that may not last for my family size. While I don’t track as closely anymore, I do still have some categories that I spend strictly cash or debit card aka groceries and going out to eat.

I hope that those of you paying down debt find some way to also still have fun within the process. Sometimes you do have to sacrifice the fun for the future but you become so much lighter when you don’t have to worry about the debt over your head.