How I Crushed $25K in Debt! YOU CAN TOO!

No, this isn't click bait. But, first for you to understand how to get out of debt, you should understand how I got this far in debt in the first place.

I was living at home, working full-time, had paid off a car and had very little financial responsibilities and was living a lifestyle where I quickly became addicted to shopping, eating out and traveling. Sounds pretty great right? It was, until I moved out and didn't adjust my lifestyle to accommodate my growing bills.

I was shopping for new clothes every week, eating out at expensive restaurants every few days. I even would take my friends on "dates" to these restaurants I wanted to experience because I knew they wouldn't want to spend that kind of cash on a Wednesday night dinner. I went on 2-3 trips a year, sometimes out of the country. I was going out every weekend and had no problem saying, "this round is on me" for a group of people. I was living it up, and it was out of hand.

I didn't have anyone to tell me that when I got my first credit card at 18 years old that I needed to act responsibly. No one teaches you about interest rates, about credit scores, about debt, about savings accounts and planning for the future. I wish I had a class in high school on this instead of chemistry, since I have used the periodic table so much in my adult life. ::::insert eye roll here::::

By the time I was 27 I had nearly my age in debt. It weighed heavily on me, like a ton of bricks constantly on my shoulders. I went years this way, never being about able to come out from under it.

That was until I met my now husband, and we made a plan....and here is how I did it.

The Ways I Crushed $25K in Debt

• The first thing I did was put myself on an allowance. I journaled everything I bought. I put a kibosh on spending and shopping. I began living asking myself do I NEED this, instead of do I WANT this. I began cooking more and eating out less. I even stopped getting my morning coffee for a while and drinking the free coffee at work. (Thats over $700 savings in a year btw!)
  

• I also moved at this time, from an apartment that was really expensive to one that was more affordable that I split with my bf. I was no longer living beyond my means.

• By this time I had 3 credit cards, one maxed out, and was in a revolving door of paying minimums and high interest rates round and round it went. The first thing I did was apply for a zero % interest card and did a balance transfer from my biggest card. This took me to step 3..
  

• We followed the debt-snowball method. This is the school of thought that you actually don't try to pay off your most debt first when you own on multiple accounts/cards but start with the smallest. While I was letting my bucko bucks ride the zero interest wave, I was able to start paying off my small cards quickly. Mentally this was a huge motivator and stress reliever. It gave me hope.
  

• When my zero % interest ran out, I just opened a new card and did another balance transfer.

• Anytime I got extra cash I hadn't budgeted for, birthdays, bonuses, tax returns, from family, etc. I threw it at my cards.
  

That's it...over a few years we knocked it out! I raised my credit score, I was able to actually start a savings account and still got to do fun things, I just didn't live outside my means the rest of the year. Now, I start to get itchy if I have over $1K on a card, so then I start to really pay attention to my spending when that happens.

Though this is super embarrassing, I wanted to share to maybe help some of you that might be in the same situation! I wish I had someone to tell me when I first got a credit card, that's for sure!

Hopefully you found these tips useful!