I paid off $11,000 of credit card debt in 18 months while still traveling, shopping and living my life — SkimNews
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- The reporter carried credit-card debt for nearly 10 years, saw her balance peak at $11,310 in March 2025 and was debt-free as of Sept. 18.
- Her “girl math” strategy counted $838 in payments against $764 of October 2024 spending, but $60 in interest at rates of at least 21% left almost no progress.
- The reporter replaced intuition with a spreadsheet tracking each monthly statement balance; in May 2025, her balance rose slightly because she paid movers instead of putting extra cash toward the cards.
- Her repayment plan averaged nearly $600 a month at the debt from October 2025 through September 2026, combining biweekly card payments with automatic emergency-savings contributions.
- Spending cuts focused on dining and clothes: she skipped a $15 cocktail, saved roughly $40 by taking fewer Uber rides, preselected clothing purchases and saved for trips in advance.
- Her emergency fund covered a $6,000 vet bill in May 2026, slowing but not derailing the payoff and keeping that expense off the card.
- LendingTree, using Federal Reserve data and analysis of more than 400,000 users, reported that about 45% of cardholders carried a balance for at least one month in the past year and that Americans with debt averaged a $7,756 card balance in the first quarter of 2026.
Why it matters: For cardholders facing rates of at least 21%, the decisive step was precise accounting: monthly statement tracking exposed months when payments still increased the balance. Steady payments—including nearly $600 a month from October 2025 through September 2026—and restrained spending brought the balance to zero, while savings absorbed a $6,000 vet bill rather than the card.
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