Chipping Away Works

This is payday for me and so this means that I do my little ritual I have done for years. I look at what I have and see how much I can squeeze out to put on this card and/or that one. Today I will be putting money on all three cards. 

I had to borrow a bit of money from Card #1 to keep my hinny out of overdraft. I still choose to live as if there is no overdraft. So I borrowed a bit (a pittance really) from Card #1 so that when that extra Wanda payment went through, I would still be in the black. Card #1 will be back down to zero today.

Extra Wanda payment you ask. Well, my Wanda payments are bi-weekly, as in ever second Thursday but I get paid on the 7th and 22nd What that means is that every few months there is an extra payment that falls within a pay period. 

This must be accounted for in your budget, or you will end up with a whoopsie, as I did. This is where that contingency fund would come in handy. I do have my payments set out as reoccurring appointments on my calendar on my phone so I can see when these payments are in relation to payday. 

I am also putting as much as I can on Card #2, and I have vowed to make sure that it is gone and done by the end of this month. I know that I can then keep Card #1 and Card #2 down to zero, as I have done this before. I can and will maintain a zero balance. When I choose, I can and will charge something on them only if I vow to pay it off within a few months. Again, I have proven that I can do this.

I will be paying my usual amount on Card #3 as well. This steady paying is making a difference, not as much as if I had not had a few unplanned expenses (some of which were my own doing). I have been steadily and consistently working on Card #3 since April. It is already down to about two-thirds of its previously maxed out balance. 

What this means is that small efforts do work over time. It is a frustratingly slow process to put that little extra on a card and keep doing it. It may not be much but whatever you put on a card over and above that minimum balance will go off of your principle. 

Remember, that minimum payment is just the interest on that credit card loan and it gives you no benefit whatsoever. Imagine taking that amount in cash and throwing it in a fire just to watch it burn. That shock and horror should hit you each time you see that number on that credit card statement. 

We all know that Credit Cards are a one-sided and bad business deal for you the consumer. Keep in mind that nobody forced you to agree to this deal but you did (as I did). There might have been mitigating factors that nudged your hand to use your credit card, but you did (as I did). In the end each of us chose to pull that card out of our wallets and use it. 

What this all comes down to is that each of us got ourselves into this credit card mess, so each of us must get ourselves out of that mess, by chipping away at it. Don’t give up, you can do it, credit cards can be beaten. 

As far as should you cut up your cards, that is up to you. I say that credit cards are like loaded guns, they can save your hinny or blow it off; it all depends on what you do with them.