Working On My Credit Card Debt

I've mentioned that one of my main goals in this year spending less it to pay off what I've already spent - my credit card debt. It totals somewhere just under $2,500. I realize this isn't an earth shattering amount. It is certainly less than what many face. I just don't make enough that I can pay it off in full right now. I'm just thankful that it is still in a range where it is manageable to pay off.

In an effort to avoid increasing my credit card debt, I've locked all of the cards away. I figure that if I don't carry them with me, I'll do a lot less damage. My biggest downfall is that I will get really close to paying them completely off, and then end up utilizing them like a debit card on a bunch of small purchases that really add up when I'm not paying attention. Or it happens because I try to pay off more than I can afford on my credit cards, and then having to go back to utilizing them just to get through the month. If I don't have them on hand, this can't happen.

The other bad habit that I need to break is trying to pay off more than I can afford on my credit cards, and then having to go back to utilizing them just to get through the month.

My goal is to get this taken care of so that I can put more money towards my car payments, and hopefully get them done faster than originally planned. With 26 payments left (just over 2 years), I'm hopeful that I can raise my monthly payments and cut those back to 20 or maybe even less. After that comes many years of student loan payments. Something to look forward to!

I'm not ready to let my debt consume me. I plan to get the $2,500 paid off, hopefully within the next six months. The less interest that I accumulate, the better.