Not many people know that five years back, my life was not as smooth as it is now. And, the reason is credit card debt.

Five years back, I was a free bird. With no responsibilities on my shoulder, I used credit cards to buy costly gifts for my boyfriend and shopping. I didn’t have to bother about paying bills, late fees, interest rates or fees. My parents took care of them. But the whole scenario changed after my parents decided to stop paying my credit card bills.

I can’t blame my parents completely. They were already taking care of my student loans. My credit card bills just created a double financial pressure on them. But, the pressure on my shoulder was not less either. The credit card debt amountpay off my bill.

My boyfriend was my backbone at that time. He encouraged me to pay off my debts. In fact, he asked me to do a part-time job and helped me to get one. It wasn’t a very big job. But, it was a new beginning in my life. I was able to start making payments to creditors.

I started working as a freelance content writer. I was paid $24.24 per hour (average). Needless to say that the amount wasn’t enough to pay off my debts. So, both of us formulated a few strategies to clear my debt and these were:

Those who have read my previous story know that I’m working as a freelance content writer for Debt Consolidation Care Community (DebtCC). But in my previous post, I didn’t talk about DebtCC’s contribution in my life, which I’ll do it today.

I didn’t know about money management, finances, tricks to settle credit card debt, etc earlier. But after I joined DebtCC, I came to know about these concepts. Since I wanted to get out of debt quickly and was looking for ways to pay back my creditors, I started participating in forums to solve my queries. I asked my questions, read what other people were doing when stuck in a similar situation and shared my experience with other debtors.

Some settled their credit card debts. Some walked on my route while others filed bankruptcy. One reason why I didn’t opt for credit card debt settlement was my lack of knowledge. I didn’t know the tricks to settle debts or the best time to negotiate a settlement agreement. I didn’t know about debt settlement letters, calculators that let you know how much you can save through debt relief options, statute of limitations (SOL) period, charge-off, judgments, etc. Now, I do. And, thanks to DebtCC for that.

If I knew about so many things earlier, then it would have been better. I wouldn’t have paid at least one debt since the SOL period was already over.

The moral of my story

I made many financial mistakes - some due to my lack of knowledge and others due to my ignorance. Those mistakes taught me the importance of money management and frugality.

Please don’t make the same mistakes which I did. Learn to differentiate between your wants and needs. If you’re in debt, ask experts about the debt relief option that would suit you the best. Post your questions in forums and use the calculators. And, most importantly save money and follow the repayment plan.