I paid off 10,000 dollars in credit card debt by paying 10,000 dollars to my credit card in one month! Who knew it could be so easy!

I think the "Snowball Method" is only legal in Nevada, though.

Let's get the obligatory stuff out of the way:

"I never carry a balance on MY credit card!"

"The easiest way to pay off credit cards is to live within your means and not incur so much debt in the first place!"

There. You guys feel better?

It's good to see these stories. It tells those that are in debt that it can be done. Yes it takes sacrifice, but it's doable.

@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O:

Not quite yet...
How about, something about NewNole2001 taking it seriously.

good for him. It's always nice to hear these stories. I also can't help but think that those carrying balances on their credit cards each month are not keeping track because how could anyone see the hundreds of dollars in finance charges being levied against them for absolutely nothing and not try to get the cards paid off as soon as possible

The sooner one gets a hold of their rampant consumer whore-ism the better.

Nole used the "Snowball Method" to to, after paying his bills, plunk down $1600 a month, plus any extra money Nole could scrape together towards paying off his debt.

What's it like to have $1600 a month in disposable income? I'm still paying off a week long hospital stay from 2 years ago.

@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: you missed
"Credit cards are evil"
"he got what he deserved for shopping at best buy"
and "He should have used a credit union, not a bank."

29.99% interest on that Chase card? Holy crap.

I hope when it is all said done that half the credit card companies go f'n broke. Then, I'd like to see the whimpering republicans in congress struggle and fight to bail them out with spirit-weakening welfare for businesses. Hypocrites.

I wonder how much of that disposable income was spent on stuff that Nole previously thought he "needed." I had an argument with a friend the other day, since my friend is in credit card debt and still owes on both his cars. He's going on vacation this summer, and he definitely has places in his lifestyle where he could cut back in order to attack that debt, but he keeps telling me that all his spending is "necessary."

I thought the first part of the snowball method is to save $1000?

Who would have thought that instead of buying $1,600 in video games, candy, and booze a month he could have put it towards his credit card debt!?

Woo, what a crazy guy.

Seriously, lets hear about the rest of his living expenses and his actual salary. Just saying he plopped down a set number of cash each month to pay off his bills isn't revolutionary. Doing rough math hes making $40k a year or most likely more. I don't see living on that amount of money remotely hard.

I think y'all are missing the larger point here. What he earns per year or how he chose to spend his money on previously isn't necessarily relevant. The point is that he squashed his bad habits and shared the story of how to do it.

I don't care who you are or how much you earn, learning how to stop squandering cash is always a good thing.

How much money does Nole make?

@DashTheHand:

Okay, no need to be a douche. We should be applauding this guy for finally taking control of his finances.

@SuffolkHouse:
Huh? I am not quite sure why there is always a need for some angry asshole to throw in a political comment when it has absolutely nothing to do with what is being discussed. I guess if you are unhappy with your life or just a poor slob who never amounted to anything, you need to blame someone. Don't worry friend, I don't mind working hard so the democrats can tax the crap out of me so they can redistribute my money to you.

This is what my wife and I do. Congrats to this guy!

This is an impressive accomplishment. No matter how this guy ended up in debt, he took the bull by the horns and wrestled a pretty substantial number down to zero in five months. Maybe stupid spending decisions got him there in the first place, but this is just another in a long line of stories that show this kind of thing is possible. Debt is not just about money. It's fraught with emotion and judgment (by others and of oneself) and it can seem insurmountable. This guy didn't just throw up his hands, and that's great news.

But...wait...if all these lazy, no good sonsabitches get out of debt, what will I have to feel smugly superior about? The horrors!

I'm 2.5 weeks away from finishing paying off $10,500 in credit card debt. It took me 1.5 years... but I only make $15 an hour and got a second job, so I like to think it's pretty impressive as well. Now to research Roth IRAs...

I just don't like this guy. I can see him eating fast food everyday wondering why he's still fat. Playing everquest with absolutely no social life. And the best part is he still lives with his mom.

One way I can see to have extra money to pay down debt is to get a second job. It's not really all that hard to add a couple hundred dollars a month by working an extra 10-20 hours per week.

I don't know why I'm so bitter suddenly.

We paid off $55,000+ debt in 12 and a half months using the Dave Ramsey baby steps. How did I end up $55,000 in debt you ask... I married my husband and he brought the debt with him (bulk of it was debt from his MBA program).

The Dave Ramsey baby steps are super simple and easy (no its not rocket science) its all about really focusing all your energy on killing debt. We've changed the way we live for the better. We have no debt except for our mortgage, we don't use credit cards (no I don't think they are evil we just choose not to use them), we have a budget, we track our spending in Quicken, and when we want to buy something big we save up for it.

@bravo369: I never noticed how much interest I was payinging until I put all my finances into a computer program. Once I realized my finance charges alone ate up most of my monthly payment, I got my act together and paid it off. Now I'm amazed that I was ever so unaware.

My simple plan to erase debt: not racking up high interest loans.

@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: Yeah, but people have to learn this lesson the hard way. Furthermore, it's not always possible given the current economic situation. It's easy for people who are comfortable to say stupid shit like, "why don't all these unemployed people just get jobs?" Easy, but it betrays a certain cluelessness about the person saying it.

Now, I think there is no reason whatsoever for the comfortable (we know who we are) to carry revolving debt. The number one thing to do is resolve to not use the damn things until the balances are such that they can be paid in full each month. I have had people say, "I'm still going to use my card because I like the convenience, but I'm going to make sure I pay more than I spend." WRONG! This never happens. The insidious thing about credit cards is that it makes you lose track of what you're spending money on. All the better to stay on the hook.

If you like the convenience of using credit cards, for example, to get gas without having to go inside and pay, what I did was what I call the "two card" method. One is a balance transfer card. Don't even carry that one around. Take it out of your wallet and shred it. Now. The other one is a Visa Check Card from your bank that will rudely remind you when you've spent too much money by REJECTING any transaction you can't pay cash for.

Every month, you make a payment at least 200% of the minimum balance. Since you're a comfortable person with a job who isn't really in trouble with debt, this ought not be such a big deal. If it is, figure out what you can reasonably put toward paying down your card. The rest of the money is yours. Enjoy. If there's any left at the end of the month, add that to your budgeted card payment. Tax refunds? That stupid-ass check Dubya thinks will "stimulate" the economy? Pay your cards with it. 80% of Americans will be doing the same thing with their tax rebates.

I got rid of my card debt (about nine grand) in about 18 months. I didn't have to sacrifice. I didn't have to eat ramen noodles all the time. I even got to go on vacation.

My partner and I did something similar, but not as quickly as five months. It took us about eight or nine months. We basically rolled up our sleeves and just took a big hit every month and budgeted $750/month to go to the credit card. All the leftover money at the end of the month went to the card. On a good month (our income varies, he's a massage therapist with his own practice) we'd throw $1,000 to $1,500 at the card. We were lucky with a few good months and a low interest rate. (His USAA card is prime + 0%. Right now his APR on the card is something like 6%. We are indeed lucky.) All it takes is A) realizing there's a problem, and B) good, old-fashioned determination. I commend this guy for doing that!

@whereismyrobot: Depends on the situation. It was part of my strategy, but I only began contributing to a savings fund untli after I had paid off a couple of my lower-balance cards first.

Once my minimum payments became noticeably less, I used some of that differential to stash away money over time.

Still, my road is a bit longer than this guy's, but paying off $10,000 in six months is quite impressive. Not sure if I can match this guy's performance, but I can get close, methinks.

Ouch on the interest rates. He must have had a few late payments/penalty APRs in place.

Paying off debt is the greatest feeling in the world. I was 20 years old and in college when I had already accumulated about $6,000 in credit card debt. I realized I couldn't continue like that and proceeded to pay it off in about 1.5 years. It was hard because I was working part time at school only making about $700 a month. It was hard but it felt great to be rid of it. Congrats to this guy on a job well done.

Hey guys. To all the naysayers.

I will go ahead and say that every bit of that credit card debt was spent on stupid stuff that I did not need but I told myself I needed.

Really, the only thing I have to show for it is a $600 desktop computer.

The point for me as I look back and look forward is that I was blowing loads of money pointlessly and now I'm taking all of that money and using it responsibly.

I won't disagree that it was overly easy for me. I just hope that others will see this story and others like mine and decide to get off their butts and take charge of their financial life.

Jeeze... I barely even MAKE 1,600 a month after taxes (thanks, wall street + stagflation!), and I have way less debt than this guy did. It's made me so frugal, I feel like if i had an extra $500 a month I could take over the world in a little over a year. WHEN IS MY STUPID COLLEGE DEGREE GOING TO START PAYING OFF LIKE THEY SAID IT WOULD! ARRRGH. Ahem. 'scuse me.

I'm trying to get rid of my debt as well. I've got 4600 in debt on one credit card, and I transfered it to one of those 0% for 12 months thing. I won't be able to pay it off in 12 months but it's better than 100 bucks a month in finance charges. I would advise people to look at their statements every month, I didn't realize how much I was being boned by finance charges.

I've been working on this too. Since I have started, I have paid off probably $3000 worth of debt so far. A long way to go though before I am all done.

@elocanth: You are exactly right. Personal finance is 80% behavior, and 20% math. There are families pulling down $100k per year, yet with $200k in consumer debt. There are single moms making $25k per year, trying to pay down their $18k in debt. Typically, the size of the hole is proportional to the size of the shovel.

It's about cutting your lifestyle and changing your habits to put yourself in a position to win. Without that behavior change, no amount of 0%apr balance transfers or extra income will get you out of debt for good.

@whereismyrobot: The first *baby step* is to save $1000. Baby step two is the debt snowball.

@uberbucket: It's amazing what you can do when you take control of your income. It all depends upon how intense you get about paying off debt. We started our debt snowball with just an extra $100-200. That wasn't hard to find. By the end of it, with promotions and other extra income, we were throwing serious amounts of money at our debt each month. Something to the tune of ~$3000. Most of the time you won't start out with an extra $1600 like Noel did. But the beauty of the system is that as you pay one off, that payment gets added to the next and the next and the next. Before you know it, those larger debts will come toppling down.

But really, it's about intensity.

Ouche!!

The "Trolls" hit this heavy.

To all the jerks who cannot applaud an individual for taking control of his habits, and spending go find some MMO forum where you can argue about how much better Dwelves are than Arves.

My wife, and I have been "debt free" for around 4-5 years now. That said we're not real good at saving yet. We occasionally carry a LOW (under 1,000) CC balance on one card, and we are acutely aware of it when we do. We call our CC companies every 6 months, and ask for a rate reduction, and pay off any outstanding balances asap forgoing dinners out, and other "luxuries" until that card is at 0 again.

I really enjoy hearing when others start controlling their consumerism.

How the hell is $1000 enough for an emergency fund?!?!? I'm not even sure if that would cover anything in any type of emergency. I think you should always try and have 6 months worth of monthly payments in savings so if you lose your job or something bad happens you're covered. That's just me.

@TakingItSeriously:
thats for pointing out about the "trolls"

This guy made some mistakes with his finances. probably didn't know how to handle them in the first place, but gained some knowlege and did what was neccesarry and these jackoffs post about 'shouldn't carry a balance anyway' and snide comments about 'just getting an extra job is the easy way out'.

Can't people just rejoice in the fact that someone has brightened up and learned how to control his finances?

Good jorb Nole. welcome to the club.

@mobilehavoc: $1K isn't the full emergency fund. It's just a little to get you started and to cover small things that may come up while you're snowballing debt. Once the debt is dead, then you focus on accumulating 3-6months of emergency savings.

@mobilehavoc:
that $1000 emergency fund isn't for catastrophic events. It's to keep the wolves at bay while your trying to pay off debt.
Then after you pay off all debt except for your house and maybe car then you save up the 6 months.

Believe me, Having 1G in the bank really changes your outlook when you are trying to pay off debt. The psychological value is much more that $1000. barring a valve job, how many car repairs cost more than 1k?
how many appliances cost more than 1k (if you aren't buying top of the line)

that 1K is there so you aren't tempted to put anything on credit when you are trying to pay off debt

@heavylee-again: An emergency fund is useless when you have 10k in CC debt that is around 20%. That 1k is better spent on cutting out that high interest debt. I do agree that any emergency fund is better than no emergency fund, I don't agree that you should do that _before_ you pay off all your high interest debt.

5 months? Damn, took me a year to clear $10,000 in debt. Learned some tough lessons along the way, but I'm glad I got it done though. Now I can go back to school without that hanging over my head.

I hate hate hate the debt snowball so much. Anyone who can do math can see that it's a waste of interest to just pay the smallest debt off first (assuming it's low interest). Good that he got out of debt though.

@Steaming Pile: The other one is a Visa Check Card from your bank that will rudely remind you when you've spent too much money by REJECTING any transaction you can't pay cash for.

Except a lot of banks won't reject them, now. They'll accept them and then tack on a $30 overdraft fee. So your $6 latte just cost $36.

@mobilehavoc: How the hell is $1000 enough for an emergency fund?!?!?

It's not. Adding to it comes later. They're called "baby steps" for a reason. Most people, if you tell them, "first, you have to save 6 months of salary," they look at how huge a number that is and just give up. Breaking it down into smaller goals makes it seem achievable.

@rdm: Sometimes psychology trumps math. You're right that paying the small one down first doesn't make sense from a math standpoint, but if it gives someone enough of a psychological boost to keep them on track it's still a good investment.

I would caution not saving while you're paying of credit card debt. If you have an emergancy, you're stuck paying with a credit card again.

I use the Crown Financial Roadmap (Christian based). Their method is to pay yourself first, while still paying as much of the credit cards as you can. Once you build up to $1000 in savings, start the "snowball" with the balance with the highest interest.

Lather, rinse, repeat as needed.

I'm about 5 months away from being debt free (less mortgage, student loan)

@rdm:

So just sequence the debts by interest rate, rather than balance. The concept is the same, the mental reward is the same and the goal is the same. Big diff.

Holy frick! I didn't read all the comments.

I want to add, though, that the guy/gal/couple deserves kudos.

*golf clap*

Debt free is the way to be. Drug-free too. But it's much more exciting to be debt-free.

Order by interest rate makes more financial sense, but you just don't get the quick sense of acheivement that you do when you do it smallest to largest. Paying off the first few small debts builds you up to take on the larger concerns.

Also, surprising how few of the constant "surprises" that used to suck up my discretionary income still come around with a simple $1000 emergency fund. I'm not even using the fund... it's just sitting there repelling Murphy and his stupid laws.

[lh6.ggpht.com]

That's a great accomplishment, but please let it be known the snowball "method" is a dumb idea, because it calls for starting with your smallest balances rather than your highest interest rates.

Please people, don't think that's a good idea. There's supposedly some psychological advantage to this, but it causes you to pay more in interest than you would paying the highest rates first. If you can't mentally cope with paying the highest rates first, keep a running tally of how much interest you're paying each month, and watch that shrink, instead of the balances.