Things You'll Need:
- Awareness
- Willpower
- Creativity
- Patience
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Step 1
Eliminate credit card temptationCancel unnecessary credit cards and shred the physical manifestation of your debt-liest sins. Compulsive buyers are more than four times as likely as their money-savvy counterparts to make only the minimum payment on credit-card balances, according to the Stanford study. But you can change that. Pay off bills with the highest interest rates first.
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Step 2
Calculate credit card payoffUse free online calculators like those offered at Bankrate.com to determine how long it will take you to pay off your credit card, then learn how much more money you need to pay each month to erase the debt sooner.
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Step 3
Use financial softwareArm yourself with the right tools. For much less than you'd spend on a pair of designer shoes, you can easily improve financial-fitness with a budget-planning software package like Quicken. Or, if you use Microsoft Office, check your document templates easy-to-use budget worksheets to better survey spending missteps.
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Step 4
Does spending money make you feel sexy?Practice money mindfulness. Focus on how your mind and body react to spending money any given moment. Does spending make you feel stronger or sexier? Trace those feelings so you can recognize what it is that drives you to overspend.
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Step 5
Hide the credit cards; blog away your debtStart your own overspending-anonymous blog (and earn AdSense dollars to pay off debt) on Blogger, Movable Type or TypePad as you clickclack away at the keyboard, waxing poetic your financial insecurities. Upload a few motivating pictures that reflects your true aspirations and not something that will set you off on an online-buying binge.
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Step 6
Break the overspending cycleBreak the spending cycle. Not unlike the way in which we sometimes gravitate toward unhealthy foods to feed emotional hunger, the chronic overspender shops to compensate for whatever she feels she is lacking in her personal life. Fill that void instead with low- or zero-cost activities: Start a knitting circle, join a book club, "shop" for a volunteer opportunity or kick off a new workout routine.
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Step 7
Get credit counseling and emotional supportIf all else fails, seek professional help from reputable debt-counseling organizations such as those listed in Resources. Several, such as Debtor's Anonymous offer overspenders a chance to discuss perhaps for the first time their addiction in an intimate group setting. Meanwhile, Debt Consolidation Care's community website provides visitors private debt-consultation and forums for virtual support-group sessions.
Comments
writinghigh said
on 7/29/2009 If my ex-wife had read this when we were married, we'd still be a couple. I hope this article helps other spend addicts. Thanks for writing it.
grimsleygl said
on 5/9/2009 It took us longer than it should have to finally say, NO, to the credit cards. Now we do not have any at all. I highly recommend "plastic surgery" to all your cards...cut them up and show um whose boss! Great article. 5*'s
musicdeb said
on 5/4/2009 I love the idea of turning to a hobby instead of shopping!
bethany1202 said
on 4/13/2009 I got into some credit card debt myself. Thank goodness I caught up before it became a major problem. Great article!
dzagotti said
on 4/1/2009 Great article!