In my last video, titled "The costly habits that
might drain your wallet", we talked about credit card interest being one of those possible
things. I was reading through the comments and I saw THIS! "Credit card debt is so stressful
easy to swipe it hard to wipe it." and I was like Jackie that is GENIUS! I even added some
choreography to this quote because it just felt so right it goes like this and I've got to
make a face ready do it with me you gotta make a face like girl really easy to swipe it like and
you'd be like this hard to wipe it like get right in your face with it so ready everybody together
easy to swipe it hard to wipe it don't do it Thank you Jackie for that beautiful quote I love
it it is the inspiration for this video I haven't carried a credit card balance in a little over
a decade or so so this is how I got there I hope it's helpful for you the first thing I did was
I got uncomfortable with debt at one point back in the day I was just using my credit card like
it was free I had about ten thousand dollars in credit card debt this is pre-kaden and it made me
feel anxious it made me feel indebted because I was and I didn't like that feeling in the words
of the great Florence and the Machine in the chart topping song Shake It Off and it's hard to
dance with the devil on your back so Shake It Off uh oh that's what it felt like whether it be a
devil a monkey a burden in however way you want to say it I wanted to not owe anyone anything you
have to get uncomfortable with debt and commit to not creating more remember easy just swipe it
hard to wipe it the second thing I did was I saw what that debt was costing me I think at its
worst probably my minimum payment was two to three hundred dollars a month just the minimum payment
bare minimum two to three hundred dollars when I let that sink in I realized I was basically
putting in a car payment each month to pay for things that I was no longer even remembering what
I purchased like it was months ago and decisions I made months ago were costing me two to three
hundred dollars out of my budget each month and it just hit me wow imagine if I was taking this
two to three hundred dollars and putting it toward my actual car balance in paying that down so not
only would I not have the credit card payment I wouldn't have a car payment and I wouldn't have to
be putting that money toward debt each month what would that look like and I liked the way that that
felt and the way that sounded and I was willing to do what it took to get there easy to swipe it hard
to wipe it next I made paying off the credit card my priority I chose paying off the debt over my
immediate wants now you have to remember this is for a season you don't have to live like this all
the time but I really thought twice every single time I made a purchase turns out kind of later
down the line I still think a lot before I make a purchase but especially during this time if you're
serious about paying off your credit card debt you have to have this as your single priority
financially temporarily until it's done always put the extra money or save yourself could I go
without this thing and take that money and put it toward the credit card debt it might even be like
ten dollars here twenty dollars there if you're serious about this keep your eyes on the prize and
throw it all at that debt until it's gone it feels so much better you feel lighter and then you can
put that money toward things that you are looking forward to in the future and not just continue
to pay for your past ugh just thinking about it just it makes me uncomfortable and if you're
feeling the same prioritize it and make it happen got to be patient it's not gonna
be overnight but you'll get there easy to swipe it hard to wipe it let me
know in the comments do you have credit card debt right now that you're working on
or are you credit card debt free let me know okay great so you decided I'm uncomfortable with
this I'm not doing it anymore you have seen the light you have seen what this is truly costing you
and you have committed to making a difference and you have prioritized it you have gone diligently
at this goal and you have gotten to the goal you have paid off all your credit card debt how do
you stay there these last two are the things that I do to maintain this status of credit card debt
free so they don't get into this position again I'm over it I'm done with it this is how I got rid
of credit card debt for good and didn't go back I use my credit card like a debit card meaning if it
is not immediately in my checking I do not swipe I am committed to paying off that credit card debt
when it is due with no exceptions no exceptions I will not carry a balance again I personally
have made it a personal policy if it is not in my checking I will not utilize a credit card
period because I know easy to swipe hard to wipe not doing it and I know a lot of people think
like well that takes a lot of self-discipline it does but it's also part of my routine if I
don't have the money I have no business spending money I don't have it's just like it sunk in with
me and I'm not doing it and I hope that's helpful to you to just know if it's not in your checking
you don't have it you're not swiping easy to swipe it hard to wipe it right Jax the second thing I've
done to prevent overspending using the credit card not having enough to cover purchases is I have
built my budget buffer I talk about the budget buffer on this channel all the time because I am
a huge believer in the budget buffer the power of the budget buffer what's the budget buffer
the budget buffer wow I just said it a lot of times it is one month of expenses in your checking
account at all times to cover everything this is my additional Safeguard just in case I can't even
really imagine what I could say that would get me into this position except one time I double paid
my mortgage because I didn't know my auto pay had already kicked in and then I got worried that I
hadn't paid it so I paid it so I double paid it but did I panic no because there's not one single
bill that I have that my budget buffer can't catch not one bill that is so large that it would
over take my budget buffer it's always under so I don't sweat it but it's taken time to
build that budget buffer and get into that situation where I don't have to panic if I
did make a mistake but like I said those big mistakes are very few and far between but it's
nice to have that safety net should it arise as a k Squad as a community here I'm gonna
encourage if credit card debt is stressing you out maybe take some of these steps to get rid of it
for good and then don't backpedal stay out of it I like to support getting you guys into position
where you can sleep better at night and not stress about money that's part of what we do here in
the community so if you want help in building your budget buffer I'm going to leave a video for
you right here to watch next that will help you build that so that you have your Safeguard because
as you know if you've learned one thing in this video you know it's easy to swipe it it's hard to
wipe it and sometimes we all need a little help
