Did you know millennials carry an average credit card debt amount of about $4,600?
I’m proud to say that I’m credit card debt-free, but that wasn’t always the case.
In fact, I had gotten myself into tens of thousands of dollars in debt multiple times.
It’s like I hadn’t learned my lesson the first time and kept coming back for more.
Thankfully, I got myself out of debt for the final time and I’ve stayed out of it!
The first time I got into debt, it was due to constantly spending more than I had.
Over time, my debt continuously compiled on top of itself.
It took years and thousands of dollars to undo the damage.
My biggest takeaways from this experience were:
- It takes minutes to go into the amount of debt that can take years to pay off.
- Interest is a killer – it keeps you stuck in the debt payoff cycle – especially when you have high balances.
- Never go over the credit limit and never pay late – the fees aren’t worth it.
Here’s a glance at this episode:
- [02:10] Credit limit increases can be dangerous territory as they give you a false sense of security that can lead to more spending.
- [04:31] Learn from my mistake…making minimum payments and continuing to use credit cards, combined with interest fees, can quickly take you over the credit limit.
- [06:52] If you’re not careful with your credit card usage, it can take minutes to overspend and accumulate debt, and then take years for you to get out of the debt payoff cycle.
- [08:49] If you do not get to the root cause of your overspending, you will end up back in debt.