Breaking It Down - Expenses

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Everything is easier if you break it down into manageable pieces. Even bills. Everyone wants to pay off their credit cards. But, how can you do it making a few cents a day here on MyLot? Or finding a little extra in your paycheck to do pay it off? Well, you break it down. Take your credit card debt, as it stands right now. First and foremost, stop spending. Your balance will NEVER go down if you keep adding to it. Now, figure out how many years you want to take to pay off the balance. Divide the balance by the number of years. That is how much you have to pay each year to pay it off (we are ignoring finance charges here). Then divide the yearly amount by twelve to reach your monthly amount you have to pay. This is probably more than your minimum amount. But, remember, you want to pay it off, not make money for the credit card company by paying forever. Trust me, the monthly amount won't be that bad. Here is an example: I owe $2000.00 on one credit card. I want to pay it off in 3 years. $2000 divided by 3 = $666.66 a year $666.66 divided by 12 = $55.55 a month. If you really want to depress yourself, figure out how much you need to make per hour to make this. Just divide your monthly amount by 30. You can also divided your daily amount by 8 to get your hourly amount. This will help you decide if the job you want will pay you enough to let you pay your bills. See my Breaking It Down -- Savings for how you can save money to pay off your debts or save for a goal.