How I Paid Off My Credit Cards...

It all started in high school....I was shopping at American Eagle (yep), I wanted an outfit, but I didn't have enough money to pay for it at the time. So what did my non-responsible self do? I decided to open a credit card. Want to know how much limit they gave a non-credit-having teen? $100. Ha. That was such a blessing in disguise. 

That was probably the start to my credit card addiction. 

Freshman year of college, I opened up an Express and Victoria's Secret card, almost simultaneously. I wanted to be fashionable and again, had no money. 

Senior year came the Best Buy card. I really wanted a digital camera and of course I had to have the picture printer to go along with it. Later, I went on to buy my ex-boyfriend a Xbox. #dumbass

After college came the Saks (David Yurman ring and bracelet? Yes please!), Pottery Barn (wedding gifts galore), and South Carolina Federal (my bank - so that I could charge whatever I wanted!). 

You know what all of that gets you? 
$7,000 in credit card debt and hardly anything to show for it. 

Back in August of 2010, when Cameron and I really started getting serious about our relationship, he created a balance sheet and income statement for me that I would fill out every month. It helped me see where my money was going and it was an easy way to watch the balances of my credit cards go down. I probably didn't start cracking down on my cards until last year when I had about $4,000 left to pay off. But in that short amount of time (roughly a year), I managed to pay the rest of it off with the method below. I would use my work bonuses, tax refunds, etc towards it. Anything I could! 

Here's what worked for me:
The Dave Ramsey Snowball Plan

-I took the credit card with the lowest balance and focused on that one first. I would pay the minimum payments on the rest of the cards, and use whatever extra money I had, plus the minimum payment, towards the card I was focusing on. Dave said it best when he said, "You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped enough to get out of debt completely." Each time I paid off another credit card, it felt awesome, and turned into more of a game for me to see how fast I could pay off the next one. 

-After I paid off a card, I would add that money that I normally paid towards it, towards the next one. My bank account didn't know the difference because I was paying the same amount each month towards the cards, but the card that I was focusing on, was getting 2, 3, or 4 times the amount of the of the minimum payment. 

It's as simple as that! 

I hope this short little post may help you in some way in paying off your credit card debt, if you are trying to!

By the way, I am in NO way promoting this kind of behavior. It was very stupid on my end and obviously I've spent years (and LOTS of interest) paying these cards off. 

Thursday's Thoughts {Birthday, New Job!, Credit Card Update}

Today I'm linking up with Annie and Natalie for Thursday's Thoughts!

-Last night we celebrated Kate's 31st birthday (confession: I wrote Happy 30th on her FB wall AND her bday card. Bad friend.) by grabbing dinner at Sweeney's on Johns Island. It's a fairly new restaurant that I've heard mixed reviews about and have always wanted to try. I'm glad they chose this restaurant to go to because I really enjoyed it! I ordered the tomato soup, which I let everyone taste and we were all fans, and the charcuterie. Tried pate for the first time - didn't hate it, didn't love it. The pimento cheese was my favorite, it was so creamy! Cameron ordered the kale and brussels sprouts salad with salmon on top. I would definitely order that salad just by itself next time I go! 

After dinner, we headed next door to Seanachai's for a quick mojito. Cameron, Caroline, and I raved about them to everyone, but I was actually disappointed in last night's batch. Oh well, we'll still be back! 

-I GOT A NEW JOB! I haven't really mentioned it on my blog, because you never know who reads it, but I've been looking for a new job for quite some time now. The nights, weekends, holidays were definitely taking a toll on me and I wasn't the happy person I used to be at the end of the day. Something had to change. After multiple interviews, a few big let downs, and lots of prayers, I'm happy to say that I will be starting a new job in September! Hello Monday-Friday, 9-5, no working holidays, and flexible schedule! It will be my first job not in the hospitality industry, and I'm really excited about it. I will be an association manager for a locally owned company here in Charleston, managing properties on Kiawah! The office is downtown, which will be a nice change of pace, but I'll still get to see the beauty of Kiawah a couple times a week. HOORAY!

Taken on my way to work this morning

-As of two weeks ago, I paid off my last credit card! Can I just tell you how awesome that feels? Starting from over $7,000 in credit card debt down to $0. I know I've said this before, but I really have Cameron to thank for making me realize how stupid it was to have that much debt and hardly anything to show for it. Now I just have a little under $2,000 left to pay on my car and I'll be debt free! 

-I really need to get back in the gym. It has been close to a month since I've really worked out and I can definitely tell. 

Just Some Stuff.

-Tonight is the NFL draft! 

South Caroline's very own, Jadeveon Clowney, is predicted to be the #1 pick, which the Houston Texans have. The last time South Carolina had a #1 draft pick was in 1981 when South Carolina's only Heisman winner, George Rogers, was picked by the New Orleans Saints. There's your history lesson for the day. It's also very exciting that another football player from the state of South Carolina is predicted to be a top 5, maybe even top 3 pick. Sammy Watkins from Clemson! There will be two very happy fans in our house tonight, and lots of happy people in the state of South Carolina.  

Clowney was actually on Jimmy Fallon last night! I tried my best to stay up to watch it, but just couldn't hang. Watched the clip this morning, and I just think Clowney is the cutest thing! He seems so laid back and like he may be a jokester. 

-I've paid off two more credit cards!! 

That brings me down to only ONE left, which should be paid off by July! 

-I had the day off today and got SO much done. 

Gym, Harris Teeter, Costco, pulled weeds (in my bathing suit top. extra points for multi-tasking), laundry, and got a head start on cleaning the house for Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. 

-Back in November, I did a re-cap of where our living room started when we bought the house, and what all we've done to it in the 3 years that we've been here. I mentioned that I wanted a larger console table for the area under our map/guest book and scones, and a sweet reader, Emily, mentioned that I should just move the black table that was behind the couch, to the wall. Looks so much better and more balanced. 

Friday Five: Vday Celebrations, Baby Lane, Credit Card Payoff, Ballet Flats + Good News.

Back for another Friday Five with five things that have made me happy this week! 

{one}

Since I have to work an event tonight, Cameron and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night. I had to stop by the grocery store after work, so I picked up Cameron's gifts while I was a there - a 12 pack of Sam Adams Seasonal and some NY strips. Beer + steaks = the way to my man's heart. I also bought him this card since he's been on a bourbon kick lately and he always used to jokingly tell me I was "neat" when we first started dating. Ha.

When I got home from the store, I walked in the door and immediately dropped the groceries. Not because there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on the table, but because he got me the gift I had mentioned I wanted one multiple times. A simple letter. It was perfect. 

And then he took me out to a delicious dinner at the Mustard Seed. 

Love that man. 

{two}

Ok, get ready for Lane picture overload. That sweet nugget graced us with his presence Tuesday evening and my phone is already full of pics of him. He's just so perfect!

Ready to go home!

{three}

As some of you may have seen on Instagram earlier this week, I paid off another credit card on Monday! Feels so good! That would be #3 out of 6. Only one is a major credit card, the rest being cards like Victoria's Secret, Best Buy, etc that I stupidly opened up in college. Again, I have Cameron to thank for really pushing me to pay these things off. 

{four}

Yesterday, Katie posted about some flats from Target and the cognac version caught my eye. My TB Revas are not cutting it any longer. The right shoe will not stay on my heel and I get so frustrated when I wear them. I'm about to take them to a consignment store and swap them out for the Target pair until I can buy the tan TB Caroline's. 

Mossimo Ona Scrunch Ballet Flats

{five}

Got some good news Wednesday afternoon and I can't wait to share with y'all if everything works out! Just keep your fingers crossed for me por favor. :)