How'd you do it breh?
Also,
First I would say I did have an unfair advantage living at home, so I was never in a situation like others where my food and shelter were compromised, not to take anything away from those that have been thru that. But still having any debt no matter your situation, sucks. Anyways I consolidated a few of my credit cards and had those paid off. Was paying like $500 a month in credit card payments. I owned like 10 at one time. Some with 30% interest. But that wasn't helping. I lucked out one year by having a friend get a hook up on income taxes and get us back a few thousand more. That helped a lot. This might've been 2011/2012. But it was mostly just grinding. I had spent too much money going out to eat and playing poker back when the craze was at its peak plus other forms of gambling and two vegas trips in 07 and 08.
I got wise about my money and stopped spending foolishly. I tried out the snowball plan from Dave Ramsey. Take all the credit cards and pay the minimum but pay more towards the card with the lowest balance. Then move on to the next. I got most paid off and then I got the income tax thing.
Not long after I got in an accident and lost my car. This was early 2013. I got the settlement from that and the value of the car. Hondas hold good value. Got like 7k back for a ten year old car that was in bad condition already thanks to me trying to install headlights on it back in 06 and messing up the front bumper. So I went to buy a new car and my score was like 515. Had to get my dad to cosign. His score was a bit lower but we got approved. Car payment was 475 but I always tried to pay more to get it paid quicker. That helped my score go up a lot. Plus I always paid my current cards on time. Whether it's auto payment or keeping track of the accounts.
I found out about Mint from someone on sohh or here and started using that. Still do to this day, every day. I also found out about online banking and started putting money away each paycheck. No matter what, gotta pay yourself first. I still owe about 7k on my car and want to pay that off before I buy property. Want to raise my credit score a bit more too.
It's all about focusing on your debt and slowly grinding away. I got a friend who wants to buy a house but him and his girl have too much debt. I tell him to just see what can be cut from the budget and focus on paying that debt off one by one. It's all about how you manage your money. I don't make much money either but I make sure to track every dollar. Sure some months are tougher than others but if you're smart about it it's much easier.
Do make sure you pay yourself first cuz everyone needs an emergency fund. Plus make sure you invest in a retirement account. Cuz I'd rather have to work hard now than be stuck working like crazy when I'm sixty. Grind now, ball later. And keep track of your credit score thru places like quizzle.com and creditkarma.com. Never know what could still be on your credit report that you forgot about. I love reading financial articles and advice these days, even if I'm in a better situation, it's still good to read up more and get motivation.
