Mark Gregory Turansky

I don’t need a bailout.

I have two credit cards that I use frequently, almost daily, but I do not have any debt.  I agree with Dave Ramsey when he says debt is the most aggressively marketed product in our culture today.  I receive all kinds of solicitations in the mail and I’m encouraged to buy everything “With No Payments for 12 months!”  Still, I have no debt.

The problem isn’t with credit card companies, lenders, marketers or anyone else.  The problem is with you.

I’ve written before in amazement that the average credit card balance is $8,000.   Today, I read a Time.com article that confirms what I’ve long felt:  The Real Problems with Credit Cards is You.

Here are Turansky’s Tips for being debt free:

1. Pay your credit card bill on time every month
2. If you don’t have the cash in the bank right now, don’t buy it.  Don’t assume you’ll get paid before the bill comes due.
3. Live below your means

I can’t say I’ve always followed the rules.  I, too, once had a large credit card balance, but it bothered me.   I had balances on mutiple cards and moved the balances to low teaser rate cards.  The problem finally gnawed at me enough that I simply stopped buying stuff I didn’t need, started eating rice & beans, and began paying major chunks towards the balances every month.

What did I do when my credit balances were $0?  Did I start buying stuff again?  No, I took a look at my car loan:  $5,000 balance.  I started applying my credit card payments to my car loan.  And what did I do when the car loan was $0?  I took a look at my student loans:  $28,000 and a history of minimum payments.  So, I took the credit card payments and the car loan payments and applied them towards the student loan payments.

Rolling your payments into your next debt is Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball.   It’s good stuff.  I learned of Dave Ramsey only recently, long after I figured out the debt snowball, but it’s been fun to listen to him because he’s a breath of fresh air.  There aren’t many forces in the world today that tell you to consume less and get out of debt.

What’s next for me?  The only debt I have today is my mortgage.  I’m attacking it with a vengeance.

It’s easy to get used to a frugal lifestyle after you’ve rejected conspicuous consumption.  No big plastic pieces of junk for us, thanks, but I do love taking my daughter to Jack’s for lunch.  It’s fun and I’ve got money to spend because I’m not in debt.