Credit Cards

Well, you are lucky that it is not as bad as the statistics, I work part time at Walmart, and I see people charging $400 onto their credit, which I see insane for the ridiculous things that no one really needs in life, credit cards just make people feel like they are getting things for free! I am 18, and I got my first credit cards (two, one for large purchases and the other for emergency purchases) when I was 16, and I never use them, only when I need to buy something and I have the money on hand, this helps me build my credit score for college so I can get loans. I am very cheap when it comes to my money, I save every penny I get that has not been assigned to my gas or car insurance haha, so I just don't see myself in debt in my life, though I will need college loans, but my brothers got themselves caught in credit card webs, and the one is $10,000 in debt. I just hope that I will always make good decisions.

Okay, $4500 is not bad. Really it is not. So keep telling yourself that. First thing you need to do -- STOP getting new credit cards. ELEVEN!!!!! Really?????? Second -- STOP using the cards. You can never pay down your debt if you keep adding to it. Third, list all your cards and the amounts you owe on each. Take the one you owe the least amount on first, target paying any extra you can find -- even if it is just $5 towards paying it off. Make the minimums on all the others. Keep doing this until you pay off the first card. Then move to the second one, taking all your extra, the minimum of the first card and the minimum of the second. Pay minimum on the all the others. Keep doing this until the second card is paid off. Repeat for cards 3 -11. By the 11th card, you should be paying what would be the minimums of the first 10 cards, plus your extra every month towards paying it off. Here is how it works: Card one has a minimum of $75. You can pay an extra $25 a month. So, on card one, you pay $100 a month until it is paid off. Continue making minimum payments on cards 2-11. Even after card 1 is paid off, don't use it. Remember, you can't get rid of debt if you add to it. Now move on to card 2. That has a minimum payment of $75 also. So, you take the total you were paying on card 1 which was $100 and add that in. Your payment on card 2 is now $175 a month. Pay this until the card is paid off, paying the minimums on cards 3-11. repeat until it is all paid off. If you follow this plan, and throw some extra in when you can (don't spoil yourself with your tax refund, use it to pay down your debt), you should easily reach your goal of payoff in 13 months. Really $4500 is not that much. You can do it.