Debt Reduction 101

I had my wisdom teeth surgically removed when I was living in Willmar. That was probably about five years ago and all that I really remember from the experience was watching the “Scarlett” made-for-TV miniseries (a crappy continuation of Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind”), eating lots of mashed potatoes and going out with my newspaper buddies the next night and mixing my pain meds with a Bud Light. Good times.

When I entered my Debt Management Program (DMP), I had about $1,200 on the card. You see – I didn’t have the cash to remove my wisdom teeth and they were becoming bothersome, so I did what I frequently did back when I had good credit – I put it on a credit card. And then I was going to use my flex spending to pay off the credit card, but then I moved to Wisconsin and used what I got back from my flex spending account to rent a U-Haul. (Hey – I never said that I was the smartest kid.)

And now, with the click of a button, I am free of yet another credit card. I have two credit cards left to pay off with a balance between them of about $2,700. I’m sticking with my $200 a week towards my credit card debt and hope to be done by November, but between you and me – I would love to be done sooner. There are so many things that my husband and I have put on hold because of our job situations and because I’ve been throwing about $300 a month (and lately more) towards my credit cards. That money can’t wait to go towards new shingles for our house, flooring in our kitchen, rebuilding my savings account, paying off my car, etc.

Happy days, friends.