Paying off your credit cards and other debt (Part 3)

Destroy Credit Card Debt and More with your New Weapon

Third in a 3-part debt-reduction series

By Mark Barnes

Direct Lending Solutions Staff Writer

If you’ve read the first two articles in this 3-part series on debt reduction, you have already learned that when it comes to credit card debt, the only thing to fear is not fear itself; rather the only thing to fear is the minimum monthly credit card payment.

Examples have clearly illustrated that paying the minimum on a credit card debt with even a balance of a few thousand dollars can take decades and cost you tens of thousands of dollars in interest fees. If, however, you create a Debt-Killing-Factor – a monthly payment above the minimum – using extra money you save and “find,” you’ll kill these credit card debts in a few short years and save a small fortune.

Oftentimes, people trying desperately to eliminate credit card debt, struggle with the concept of the DKF. They look at it as simply using more of their hard-earned income to add to debt. If they were good at adding to credit card debt, they’d already be in better shape financially.

The concept, though, is as simple as it seems, if you understand its most basic fundamental – not using more income or getting a second job to make it work. The money is already in your wallet or bank account; you just have to find it in the crevices.

Following are some solid inroads to locating more funds for your DKF. Just remember, in each of these examples, you would normally spend the money, so it’s not new money. Treat it as though you have spent it, but save it. At the end of the month, it becomes part of your Debt-Killing-Factor.

Grocery member card savings: Most groceries and pharmacies have member savings cards. You swipe the card at checkout, and you save money on your bill. So, if you spend $100 at your grocery, you might save between $7.00 and $10.00. If you shop twice a month, you should accrue close to twenty dollars, with just this one method.
Grocery/gas station joint venture savings: Every state doesn’t have this program, but it’s my favorite for jamming my Debt-Killing-Factor full of powerful extra dollars. The grocery chain Giant Eagle has teamed with the gas station GetGo to save shoppers at the fuel pumps. For every $50 spent at Giant Eagle, you get ten cents off of a gallon of gas at GetGo. So, if you spend $400 in one month on groceries, you’d save 80 cents per gallon. For a 15-gallon tank, you’ll save twelve bucks. Without the savings program, you would have paid the full amount, so throw the $12.00 into your DKF.
Coupon use: If you’re going to be successful at eliminating credit card debt and creating a monster DKF, you have to be good at collecting and using coupons. Got a 2-for-1 pizza coupon? You just saved up to ten dollars that you would have spent on those two pizzas, if you didn’t have the coupon. You eat the pizza, but feed your DKF the savings.
Save those nickels and dimes: You buy some batteries at the hardware store, and they cost $4.12. You hand over your five-dollar-bill, and pocket 88 cents. This is the easiest money in the world to spend, but it can also be a valuable credit card debt killer. Toss change like this into a bank at home, and at the end of each month, you’ll probably have ten to fifteen bucks. Deposit it into your checking account and add it to your credit card payment; it just became part of your DKF.

With these four very easy methods alone, you can easily save fifty or more dollars every month to add to or start your Debt-Killing-Factor. And with a little creativity, you can probably come up with many more dollar-saving methods of your own. Remember, every dollar you put toward your DKF is ultimately eliminating credit card debt and any other debt you have.

Got a car payment you’d like to kill? Why not fatten up your DKF, once you’ve knocked off all of you credit card debt, and pay down that car payment in a few years less. Now, add the car payment to your DKF and go after something else.

You can continue this remarkable cycle and eventually, your Debt-Killing-Factor will be big enough that you can probably apply it to your mortgage and pay it off in half the term.

Other debt reduction pages: Debt Reduction Part 1 | Debt Reduction Part 2 | Debt Consolidation Loans | Sitemap

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