Major Milestone: Credit Card Debt
I really could have done this last month, but I didn’t. You may know that we started with a peak of $20,000 in credit card debt (I say “we”, but I mean “I”). I can’t remember the exact amount, but I left college with about $15,000 in credit card debt, and in the last 6 years, that amount peaked a few times at about $20,000. Mostly those times were our wedding, honeymoon, auto downpayments (at 0%), or other temporary large purchases.
Well, today is the day that we have less than $10,000 left in credit card debt! I just sent off a payment of $150 to Citibank, and our new CC balance is $9,852. Last month, the balance was $10,002.
I’m still considering which of our remaining debts to pay down first (2 student loans, CC, or Ridgeline). It looks like I’ll be able to get a decent balance transfer rate in November when the current 0% offer is up, so I may decide to pay down my student loan next, rather than the credit card debt.
But getting rid of that credit card debt is just so tempting!
Wahoo! Big congratulations, Clever Dude… I can’t wait to be in your shoes 🙂
Definitely go for the Credit cards, the student loan debt will go so much easier and you will have less temptation to use the cards again if they’re at zero.
Mark, thanks for the advice. We actually don’t use credit cards for unnecessary purchases. We pay everything cash when we can. And when we can’t (or want to get rewards) we use cards, but pay it off within the month.
All this debt was “legacy debt” from college. We had repayment plans for our wedding, honeymoon, and when we used it for other big purchases like a downpayment for my truck ($5k at 0%).
Awesome! I’m working on it… working on it…