Here’s hoping that Part VIII went well for you and that you are one step closer to achieving Retirement Plan Z. Every little step you take will get you closer to your destination. Don’t worry that one step doesn’t make a huge difference, it’ll happen.
I’m sure you wouldn’t panic if you saw one ant, a tiny little thing. But what if you saw ten thousand ants? Would that throw you into a panic? Well, it’s the same thing here. One small step seems like nothing and then one day you look back and realize you’ve taken a thousand steps and you see what those thousand steps have done to improve your life.
Alright, you have hopefully reduced your interest rates on your credit cards and have a win under your belt. If you tried and failed, that’s ok too.
Remember that failure = success. If you haven’t failed it’s only because you haven’t tried anything. Could you imagine if babies stopped trying to roll over because they failed a few hundred times? They would never roll over.
Did you know that 12 to 19 month-olds average 2368 steps and fall 17 times per hour? How long would it take you to quit, if you failed 17 times an hour? 15 minutes? Failure = Success, don’t forget it. I brag about failing… you should try it. The looks your friends give you will be worth it alone.
If you failed at having your cards’ interest rates lowered that ok, you’ll just wait a week and try again. After a while they’ll either reward you for your efforts or you’ll have made a few new friends and if you have a friend at the credit card agency, they’ll probably be happy to help you out and so you’ll probably get your reduction.
Step number two, paying off your cards.
This is basically what I did.
- Stop using your cards.
- Always try to pay minimum payment plus interest. This is the very least you should do.
- Whatever your payment is, divide it by the amount of times you get paid a month and make a payment every payday.
If you get paid twice a month and your payment is $100.00 a month. Pay $50.00 twice a month. This will save you money by paying a few cents less of interest every month and it will prevent you from spending the money, while you are waiting for the bill. - Pay off the lowest $ amount card. If you have three credit cards, one is $3000.00, two is $5000.00 and three is $10,000.00. I would pay off the $3000.00 one as quickly as possible. (I like the feeling of having a win under my belt.)
Please note: If the lowest card you have is going to take you years to pay off, I would go with a high interest card first. Then when that low card is maybe 6-12 months away from being paid, then I would hit it hard. - When you are done paying a card, cancel it (unless you have the willpower to not add to it).
- Whatever money you were paying on the card, use that money and add it to the next card you’re paying off. One thing I did to keep me motivated is that I would boost my allowance after paying off a card. Let’s say I paid $100.00 a month on a card, I would take 10% and add that to my allowance money. So I added $90.00 to the credit card and $10.00 a month to my allowance.
- Repeat as necessary.
The thing is to find the method that best fits your needs and will keep you motivated during hard times.
Let me know if this is helpful. Leave me a note.
Thanks for popping by.