Repaying Credit Card Debt by making Myself Accountable
By Matt - Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
I accomplished a few things in my twenties though the item with the longest legacy is quite likely my debt; my credit card debt to be specific. A lot of people use their credit cards with abandon not really caring about the consequences of their spending. At least I hope this is the way it used to be. I have never held any missconceptions about my credit card spending I knew that I would need to pay it back. Unfortunately even knowing this fact does not diminish the reality of it.
Paying credit card debt sucks!
Making purchases with credit cards hold lots of risks with it; for example if you don’t pay back the balance of your debt you end up paying a hefty interest on the purchase. Over time this can add up to more than the initial purchase. Secondly you’re not likely to use your credit card to pay back a meaningful purchase just the type you need a bit of cash for. I don’t remember what I spent my money on yet I still have the debt to show for it. Kind of a stupid trade off if you ask me.
Sadly you’re still accountable for the money.
If you’re accountable for the money it means that you agreed to whatever terms the card was offering when you spent the money. Simply put you owe the credit card company the cost of your purchase plus interest; you owe them more than the cost of the purchase. Short of bankruptcy there isn’t much that can be done about this fact you have to pay the money back. I know that I need to repay my credit cards and I need to do it fast because I am sick and tired of living in debt.
Using accountability to repay the debt
I owe a lot of money for the purchases I made and since I decided to refocus on my finances I want to make myself accountable for this not only to my lenders but also to my readers. Why would I do something like this? Well its a great motivational tool. First off I don’t want to seem like a moron for not paying down my debt and staying on top of it. Secondly by seeing the progress out in the open I’ll be able to keep myself going and pay it down faster. Finally I have always seen stories of people tackling their debt as a motivator for myself. If I am able to help even one person get through their debt with my experience I’ll be very glad.
The question that I have been asking myself is how do I keep myself accountable while I pay down my credit card debt. The answer is pretty simple I’m going to be transparent about it. I will post my current credit card debt on the side of the blog and update it once a month. A few bloggers have taken this approach and I like it; its simple and paints a picture pretty quickly.
This entry is filed under Debt, Financial Situation.
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