I wrote a post awhile back (Credit Card Debt – Gone!) about my struggles and eventual victory to get out of credit card debt. At that point, I had only two big debts left to wipe out; my daughter’s student loans and the credit line my husband and I had opened several years prior with Wells Fargo.
I can across the blog post mentioned above yesterday, and realized I needed to post an update about my recent success in paying off debt.
As of February 4th, 2016 paid off the Wells Fargo credit line!
It took time and perseverance. I had to be disciplined and hang in there for the long haul. But I can say that the debt snowball method of paying down debt works! It felt like it took forever. But here is how it really broke down:
January 2015 – Beginning Balance was $13,478.48; Minimum payment due was $248.78; was making $300 payments each month.
6 Months later …
July 2015 – Beginning Balance was $9,357.49; Minimum payment due was $173.23; continued to make those $300 payments.
6 Months after that …
January 2016 – Beginning Balance was $2,797.89; Minimum payment due $55.31; was making $500 payments.
During the last part of 2015 I started paying $500 per month toward the Wells Fargo credit line as my finances freed up a little. I also put $1,000 toward paying off the debt in December when I got a windfall from work. I made the final payoff payment of $2,329.92 in February 2016.
In looking back, I paid off $10,680.65 on that one debt in one year!
Don’t give up! Things can change drastically in a year.
If you are in the middle of using the debt snowball method to pay off debt, and feel like you are making no headway, try this: pull out your statement from a year ago, or from the first of the year, and compare it to your most recent statement. Look at your remaining balance due, your minimum payment amount, etc. See the difference? Check out how much your remaining balance has shrunk over the months? See how your minimum payment due amount has decreased?
Stay the course! Keep making those payments each month.
Don’t drop the amount you are paying. Just because your minimum payment has dropped from $250 to $55, keep paying the $300 each month.
Don’t slack off! Don’t slow down! Throw everything you can at the debt.
Finish strong!
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Joan Merrell is a solo mom to two daughters, a widow, and a security technician at Oregon State Hospital. Oregon native, farm girl and 4H leader, maker of homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies, she balances (more or less) full-time work with caring for a home filled with a teenage daughter, 2 entitled cats, and a hyper German Shepherd. She enjoys gardening and hiking, reading Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti novels, and searches for a few spare minutes to communicate with her grown daughter and son-in-law on her Marco Polo app. Find out more about Joan here.