Alright, Jen, here we go. What are your tips for paying off Credit Card debt BULLISHLY? (Sorry, had the urge to yell that because I love Bullish so much.) I have about 10k in credit card debt, but I also have a cushy emergency fund, and a good job.
Great question! I think it’s sort of boring to responsibly pay $300 a month (or whatever) towards credit cards while sensibly cutting back on luxuries. That makes it just a bill. Bills are boring.
I mean, don’t get me wrong – it’s a correct thing to do. But I’m pretty sure you already know about that option.
It’s kind of more interesting to constantly make tiny payments – you can set up your online banking account to send small amounts to your credit card much more frequently. At one point I had several rules set up that sent small amounts to different savings and investment accounts every week (you can easily do this with apps like Qapital and Simple). That way when I looked at my bank account and saw it was bleeding money, it was actually a good feeling.
On the other end of the spectrum, what if you had a sort of campaign to pay as huge a chunk as possible in one month? Like, “Hey, friends and family, this January it’s my New Years Resolution to cut my credit card debt by 25%! in one month. If you want to help me out, please check out my sales on eBay and Etsy! I’m also open to any part-time or project work (babysitting, moving help, press releases, etc.) in the next three weeks only! I’ll also be having a bake sale.”
If you would normally be embarrassed to be babysitting on the side even though you have a good job, this kind of “campaign” makes it suddenly very clever instead! It also gives you an excuse to ask friends and family to buy stuff from you. Kind of like how, normally, you don’t want to buy things from your relatives, but Girl Scout cookies and lemonade stands are different.
Also of interest: 5 Ways to Actually Enjoy Saving Money
Good luck!
