Credit Cards? What are Those?

I am happy to say that last night, Lindy and I paid our bills for this month and we were able to make the last payment on our credit card debt (I should say "MY" credit card debt).  It is a great feeling to get to such a milestone.  I still have student loans to repay, but we both drive cars that are paid for and we aren't buying a house until we get a down payment saved.  We can now turn our focus to that saving goal.  To give you an idea of where the Lord has brought us, about 18 months ago, maybe a little longer, we began purposing to reduce the 12K-14K in CC debt.  We knew it would be a slow process, but the Lord has proven himself over and over with blessing upon blessing.  

We minimized our expenses as much as we could, in order to maximize our surplus.  We cut out individual spending (meaning that we didn't spend anything on ourselves).  This was much easier on Lindy than on myself, but I knew that in order to conquer the debt mountain it had to be done. Lindy became a super grocery shopper both before we got married and after.  She primarily paid for our wedding herself.  There was help from our family, and we are thankful for that, but we had the wedding we had because she worked so hard.  We didn't incur any extra debt during that process.  Thank You Lord for the provision!  Once we got our income and outgo in order, we snowballed.

Snowballing can be done in different forms.  You can go after the highest interest rate, or the lowest balance, or you can figure out which one will increase the cash flow the fastest.  Any of them work as long as you are consitent.  We chose to go after the lowest balance first.  We paid it off quick and rolled that payment into the next card.  That allowed us to triple or maybe even quadruple the minimum payment (which is the only way you can get out of credit card debt).  We also played the balance transfer game.  Anytime I got a 0% offer with no transfer fee, we did it.  To the maximum.  Then we focused on the remainder of the balance that was collecting interest.  Once we got everything to lower interest cards, the principle fell faster.  

Each time we paid off a card, we celebrated in some way (without spending money). Sometimes we danced to loud music, and other times we enjoyed a fun free outing.  But we made sure we felt good about what we had accomplished.  I am not sure yet how we will celebrate this milestone, but I will be sure to let you know what we do.

I have to thank a few people who really helped along the way.  Wayne and Jean Carol Miller and Jim and Amy Pitts were both gracious enough to provide me with cost-free living quarters that allowed me to make strides on the debt.  My Wife, who continually pushed me to evaluate my spending.  Many who prayed and encouraged us along the way including my family, my in-laws, the people of Yorktown Baptist Church and Bethel Church, Leah Getz (who helped my wife become a great shopper in NW Indiana as well as an encourager and listening ear for us both).  So many more along the way have encouraged us and allowed God to bless us through them.  We are so thankful.

I hope this is an encouragement to you that you can conquer mountains in your life.

Have you had any mountains that you were able to conquer?  Are you climbing any mountains right now?