What would motivate you to eliminate all of your consumer debt
? Would it be a vacation at a tropical resort? Being able to work your own hours? Being able to be a stay-at-home mom? These are the things that are going to motivate you to pay off your debt and plan for the future. But before you can begin to work on a debt repayment plan there are a few other things you should do first.
If you have debt, your money must be going somewhere and it is important that you identify where that somewhere is. Take out 3 to 6 months of bank and credit card statements and make a list of your charges. Put them into categories, such as; food, clothing, personal care, transportation...you get the idea. This will help you figure out where your money is going and where you can begin to identify categories where you can cut back and put the extra money towards your debt repayment.
If you are going to stay motivated, you are going to have to be aggressive about repaying your debt. Seeing you balances diminish is what is going to keep you going. Truthfully, this may take making some painful decisions, such as; selling a car you cannot really afford or finding a way to increase your income by several hundred dollars each month. You are also going to need a budget that will allow you to plan how your money will be spent.
If you are paying your debt off on your own, you should have a target of three years or less. Pay off the account with the lowest balance first. Pay as much as you can towards it each month while making minimum payments on all your other accounts. Once it is paid off add what you were paying the paid off account to what you were already paying on the account with the lowest balance on the remaining accounts.
Following on this process and keeping your eye on the freedom you will have when you are debt free should keep you motivated to eliminate your credit card balances.