17 Great Ways to Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt Right Now

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Did you know that, in the last 12 months, 50% of all credit card users carried a balance on their card? Yep, crazy, but not a shocking statistic by any means.

Because credit cards are easy to use, give you a lot of “extra money,” and offer some cash back rewards to boot. It’s pretty easy to see how the average person gets hooked.

I remember back when I used mine pretty heavily and it didn’t take long before they were maxed out. Over time, I learned the truth about these cards. And what a freakin’ ripoff!

You use your credit card to pay for something. Then, you use your own money to pay the payment. If you don’t pay it in full, you get hit with the huge interest charges. They might give you a few points, but the interest you’re paying cancels that out. So why bother? If you can pay it off, you could’ve just used cash.

In this post, we’re going to be talking about those credit cards you’ve got and 17 ways to get them paid off. So if you’re sick of living in debt and getting crushed by your credit cards, this post is for you. We’ll also talk about:

Why it’s important to get your credit cards paid off.
17 great ways to pay off your credit card right now and…
My 10-step plan for destroying debt, building wealth, and bulletproofing your finances.

Alright…let’s go!

Why it’s important to get your credit cards paid off

The interest

Interest is an absolute financial killer. With rates ranging from 5-20% percent or more, you can bet that most people are paying a lot of interest. And that’s just a pure waste of money. If you can’t pay off your credit card in full every month, you shouldn’t have it. And if you can do that, you can just as easily pay in cash for stuff.

The game

Most people use their card to get credit card reward points. But why? You’re getting a few points that might net you a crappy vacation 3 years from now. All the while playing a fixed game with snakes (the credit card companies). Well guess what? Those companies aren’t in business to lose money. Instead, they’re using all of those interest payments to build huge skyscrapers. So don’t contribute to their wealth building. Contribute to YOUR wealth building.

Credit cards just suck

I HATE credit cards. They’re financial cigarettes and will ruin your future. So don’t use them.

For more on why credit cards freakin’ suck, you can check out my post here: “37 Reasons Why Credit Cards are Bad (and Ruining Your Life!)”

17 great ways to pay off your credit card right now

So below, I’ve got 17 of the best ways to pay off your credit cards – whether it be working on your overall finances to find more money, things to do to actually pay on them, and ways to make more money to use toward your credit card payoff. Here we go!

1. Stop justifying your credit card use

The first thing you need to do when working to pay your credit cards off is to stop justifying and rationalizing your credit card use. I know that might sound ridiculous, but I’m being dead serious. Whatever reason you use credit cards for, it’s time start understanding that your reasoning is flawed. There is NO GOOD REASON to use a credit card for ANYTHING.

Credit card reward points barely give you anything and they’re incredibly scammy. Using them is just not smart financially. Other than that, using credit cards is just dumb. I’m not saying you are. But the behavior of using them is dumb. Don’t worry, I used them when I was younger and that was just a stupid financial move.

Once you stop justifying your use, you’ll take a huge step toward getting them paid off and soon building tremendous wealth.

2. Cut your credit cards up

One of the easiest ways of stopping the use of your cards is to simply take some scissors and chop them up. “Plastic surgery” is a big part of the battle when trying to get rid of your credit card debt. This will prevent you from using those cards at regular stores and restaurants. It literally takes the opportunity out of your wallet/purse and forces you to use cash or your debit card.

Some people just take them out of their wallet/purse or freeze them in a black of ice to stop using them. That’s not smart because you still have the cards. Chop them up with scissors and then put them through a shredder to dispose of them. There’s nothing that says, “I’m DONE with credit cards!” more than that right there.

However, this doesn’t stop you completely from using your cards. The number still works until you do the next thing on this list.

3. Take them off of websites and cancel them

There are two other surefire ways to stop using your credit cards altogether. Do these two things and you won’t have to worry about any more added credit card debt.

Websites

The first thing you need to do is go onto every single website you buy stuff on and take your card information off of them. EVERY single site including Walmart, Amazon, and any other retailer you shop at. Also, if your internet browser stores your card info, take that out as well. Once you do this, you can start paying off all of that debt and you won’t continue borrowing.

Canceling them

Once you pay off each card, call and cancel them. You’re no longer using them to borrow and you don’t need them anymore. So once the debt is gone, cancel the account.

Your credit score doesn’t matter

I know you might be fond of your credit score. But let me be the one to tell you – your credit score means nothing and is completely worthless. Here’s what your credit score really means: you’re good at borrowing money and paying lenders back so that you can get a better score to borrow more money and pay that back for a better score. It’s just one big cycle. One big game to lenders that they win and you lose.

Stop using credit cards immediately so that you can pay them back and get them out of your life.

4. Stop borrowing money completely

The next tip is to stop borrowing money altogether. The only way to completely get out of debt, credit cards included, is to not borrow any more money. Because if you continue to borrow money while paying off other debts, it’s basically like running a race while simultaneously shooting yourself in the leg. It just doesn’t work for anyone. It’s the vicious cycle of debt that most people will never get out of.

But you’re not most people. You’re going to crush your debt, including all credit card debt, and stop borrowing money as well. I’ve done it. I know you can, too.

For more, check out this post here: “How to Stop Borrowing Money: 10 Step Guide to a Debt Free Life”

5. Find your BIG reason WHY

The next tip is to find your BIG reason WHY. Your WHY is why you’re doing what you’re doing. WHY are you trying to pay off your credit cards? Are you trying to pay them off just to pay them off? So that you can borrow more in the future? What’s the reason you’re trying to do this?

You need to know that reason. Because if you’re just paying them off to pay them off, that’s not a good reason. That sucks. You’ll soon be back in debt and once again trying to pay off your credit cards.

That was me. I paid off all of my student loans in 2016 just because I wanted to. A few years later, after the excitement had work off, I found myself back in debt again. I realized that I needed a BIGGER reason WHY. So I found one.

Here my BIG reason WHY: I’m sick of debt, tired of being broke and having nothing, sick of not being able to afford anything, sick of a negative net worth, my wife and I want to travel one day, I want to help my son go to college without loans, and my wife and I want to be a millionaires.

My WHY cuts deep. It pulls at my heart because I’m doing this for a HUGE reason. You need to find your WHY. Once you do that, the progress you’re going to make will be awesome.

6. Set financial goals

Goals are insanely important. And when it comes to trying to pay off your credit cards and get rid of debt, you NEED to have them.

First, your goals need to be written out. They also need to be extremely specific. Don’t just write, “I want to pay my credit card debt off.” That’s a crappy goal by itself.

Usually, when writing out your goals, I encourage you to have short-term, medium-term, long-term, and legacy goals. But for your credit cards, I want you to set 2-3 short-term goals.

Short-term goals: these goals are usually fairly easy to complete and can be achieved in less than 36 months. So these will include almost all of your credit card goals.

“I want to pay off my first credit card – which is $2,500 (or however much you owe) – in the next 3 months or less.
“I want to pay off half of my total credit card debt – $7,500 (or however much you owe) – in the next 6 months.”
“I want to pay off all of my credit card debt – $15,000 (or however much you owe) – in the next 12 months.”

Or you can make up your own goals. Just make sure you write them down and make them as specific as possible. That’s how you hold yourself accountable to your goals.

For more on goals, check out this post: “How to Make More Realistic Financial Goals This Year!”

7. Financial plan

Next up, you need to be following a solid financial plan to help you not just get out of credit card debt, but to fix your finances overall. A financial plan can also help you develop good habits so that you’re not continuing to spend money on your credit cards.

The financial plan that we use is Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover financial plan. This awesome plan is simple and includes his 7 Baby Steps. With this plan, my wife and I have gotten out of debt and built a net worth of more then $300,000 dollars by 30 years old. If you’d like to read more about this plan, check out my post here: “I’m Debt Free! The 7 Dave Ramsey Baby Steps Explained”

You can also check out the plan that I’ve put together to completely bulletproof my finances. It’s a simple 10-step plan that I call the Bulletproof Financial Plan. Check that out here: “Living Paycheck to Paycheck? 10 Steps to Break the Cycle!“

8. Decrease your expenses

The next step in getting your credit cards paid off is to decrease your expenses as much as possible. This is extremely important and something that can help you find A LOT of extra money to put towards your debt. If you do this correctly, you’ll end up with a huge chunk of money in the end.

No-spend challenge: the no-spend challenge is tough, but it’s an awesome way to save a ton of money over the course of a week, a month, or a year (or whatever period of time you choose). You’re simply doing what the challenge states – no spending. Yes, pay your bills and get groceries. But any extra spending on coffee, fast food, or things you want gets nixed. If you don’t NEED it, you don’t buy it. This will help you save a lot of money to put toward your credit card debt. For more, check out this post here on the no-spend challenge.
Check out this post: “101 Ways of Creatively Cutting Expenses to Save a Ton of Money.” That post is epic and can help you find a lot of creative ways to cut back.
Budgeting your money: see the next tip.

9. Budget your money

Budgeting my money has literally changed my life. And I sincerely mean that. When I started budgeting, I was terrible at it. But I kept doing it and I got better over time. Since then, my wife and I have completely turned our finances around.

Because a budget allows you to control your money, not let it control you. You need to gain control of where your money is going so that you can allocate as much as possible toward credit card debt. Once you do that, the progress will be incredible.

So, in order to create a budget, first write down all expenses in last 30 days. You can also check your bank. But you need to know where EVERY DOLLAR is going. That’s important.

Next, you need to know your income – exactly how much you make per month AND per year.

Then take your monthly income and minus all of your expenses for the month. After you do that, your expenses need to be less than your income. If not, there’s part of your problem. If that’s the case, you need to cut expenses even deeper. For that, look back at tip #8 above.

If you’re wondering about which budget to use, I highly recommend using a zero-based budget. Zero-based budgets help you track every single dollar, they don’t allow for any waste, and they can help you reach your financial goals much faster (if used correctly).

For more on the zero-based budget, check out this post: “7 Ways a Zero-Based Budget is the Best Budget for Your Money”

If you’re curious about what to use, you can try Mint.com, EveryDollar.com, or an Excel spreadsheet for your budget. I personally like the Excel spreadsheet the best, but you can use whatever you’d like.

Alright, go ahead and make your budget now.

If you’ve been against doing a budget up to this point, that’s okay. I completely understand. Doing a budget is hard. But you have to do one. Think of it like this: a budget is permission to spend your money. You’re telling it what to do and giving yourself permission for whatever is in it. If you want to give yourself permission to eat out a little bit, just put it in the budget. But make sure you take every bit of money you can and put it toward that credit card debt. You want it gone.

Lastly, you’re not going to be perfect with your budget. And it’s going to be tough. But I want you to just do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. But it has to be done. So create your budget and crush your credit card debt for good!

10. Pay with cash only (or with your debit card)

If you’re really trying to get rid of your credit card debt, you must commit to using cash only. Your debit card is also fine, but no more credit. I just wanted to reiterate that in this tip.

If you can’t afford to pay with cash or your debit card, you can’t afford it. If you can use cash or debit card, there’s no need to even use credit. Ditch those credit cards and start building real wealth.

11. Put them into your debt snowball

The next tip is to put your card balances in order using the debt snowball. If you have other debt, you should try to eliminate all of it this way. If you only have credit card debt, put your balances of each card in order from smallest to largest. Here’s an example: let’s say you have 3 cards that have $1,200 dollars, $1,800 dollars, and $4,000 dollars in balances on them. Total debt is $7,000 dollars and you’ll put them in order like this:

$1,200 dollars (smallest)

$1,800 dollars

$4,000 dollars (largest)

Then you simply attack the smallest with every free dollar you have and pay minimums on the other two. Once you pay off the first, move on to the next. Then the next. Once the last one is paid off, you’re done!

If you have other debt, simply use this process and put all of your credit card debt in order with your other debt. Remember, smallest to largest. Interest rate doesn’t matter. It’s about motivation and momentum, not math.

If you’re curious why we say smallest debt first instead of highest interest rate, check out this post: “Highest Interest Rate vs. Smallest Balance: Which Debt to Pay First?“

12. Make sure you’re always paying more than the minimum

This is a given. If you only pay minimums on your credit cards, you’ll stay in the vicious cycle of credit card debt for a LONG time (years for your credit cards). When I was younger, with just a couple thousand on a credit card, my projected payoff date was over 8 years away.

We recommend using the debt snowball method, attacking one card with as much money as you can to pay it off QUICK. Only pay minimums on the other cards. Once one is paid, attack the next biggest credit card debt. On and on until they’re all paid off. Simple.

13. Consolidate it all

If you’re having trouble paying them off or getting traction because of crazy interest rates, you can always consolidate them into one single personal loan with a smaller interest rate. This has helped some people, just because it frees up some income. But it also makes all of that debt become one giant debt to tackle. So be wary of one large debt and one large payment. That could be very demotivating if you don’t have any quick wins.

I say just sacrifice as deeply as you can to get all your cards paid off using the debt snowball method.

14. Tax refunds

Next up, the tax refund. A lot of us get at least some tax refund every year. But some get huge tax refunds every year. If that is you, it’s time to do some damage to your credit card debt. Use this as a HUGE opportunity to pay off a lot of debt. That’s what my wife and I did. When we started our debt free journey together, we got a $3,500 dollar tax refund that went straight to the $3,500 left on her car loan. Boom! Done.

If you get a big refund check, throw it at your credit cards and knock them out quick.

15. Use any bonuses or OT

If you get any extra bonuses at work, simply throw those at your credit card debt, too.

Or if you have the opportunity to work some overtime, use that money for your debt. Most people work jobs that will allow at least a little bit of overtime. My full-time job allows me to get 5-10 hours of overtime a month if I so choose. Some jobs, however, offer unlimited overtime. So work as much as you can to make that money. Then use it to crush your debt!

16. Get a second job or side hustles

If you can’t get any overtime or bonuses at work, that’s no problem. All you’ve gotta’ do is get a second, part-time job or start up a side hustle.

Part-time job

Part-time jobs are super easy to get but don’t usually pay as well as side hustles do. You’ll make about $10-20 dollars an hour and be required to do hourly work for whatever place you work at. Plus, there’s usually a set schedule. These jobs include food delivery and part-time work at stores like Walmart or Target.

Side hustle

Side hustles offer the opportunity of making the most money, but are fairly tough to start. Mainly because you have to go out, advertise, and sell whatever it is that you’re doing. But it’s not that difficult. Whether you’re doing lawn care, cleaning houses, walking dogs, or any other hustle, you can make upwards of $30-40 dollars per hour this way. It’s tough but the pay is good. And all of that extra money can go directly to your credit cards!

17. Sell EVERYTHING

The last tip on this list is to sell it all. If you’re getting crushed by credit card debt, why not just get rid of everything you don’t want or need to pay off your debt? Start finding anything and everything in your house that can be sold and sell it.

Online

Try to sell most of your stuff online on either Ebay or Mercari. My wife has made a tremendous amount of money on Mercari, well in excess of $1,000 dollars. Not too bad.

Yardsales

Whatever we don’t sell every year ends up in our yard sale pile. My wife works really hard to make extra money online. She’s done well, but some things just don’t sell. So we do a yearly yard sale. Do the same and use all of that extra money to crush your credit card debt!

So that’s it for credit cards. Check out this next section if you’re interested in getting all of your debt paid off.

If you’re serious about paying off debt

If you’re truly serious about paying off debt, follow these steps!

Step 1 – Have a BIG reason WHY: We’ve already talked about this. By now, you should have you’re BIG reason WHY! If you don’t, start thinking about that now.

Step 2 – Stop borrowing money: You should have already done this as well.

Step 3 – Financial Goals: hopefully you’ve got a couple short-term goals completed. Next, create some medium-term, long-term, and legacy goals. See my goals post here for more on that.

Step 4 – Create a budget: you should’ve already completed a budget as well. See this post here for more on budgeting.

Step 5 – $1,000 dollar starter emergency fund: this step is simple. Save up $1,000 bucks and do it 30 days. Enough said. Check out this post here for how to do that.

Step 6 – Get out of debt (as fast as possible): I don’t care what you have to do. As long as it’s legal and moral, get out of debt as fast as you possibly can. Do this like your life depends on it. Because it does! Sacrifice for a short period of time so that you can live financially free for the rest of your life.

Step 7 – 3-6 month fully funded emergency fund: after you get out of debt, build up your 3-6 month emergency fund of necessary and required expenses. Do this as fast as possible as well…I’m talking 3-6 months or less. Check out this post here for how to do that.

Step 8 – Invest 15% percent & start kids college fund: once you’re out of debt, and have a 3-6 month fully funded emergency fund set up, start investing 15% percent of your money into retirement. Next, set up 529 plans for your kids college. Both are extremely important. Do that as soon as possible.

Step 9 – pay extra on mortgage and get mortgage paid off: when everything else is done, start paying extra on your mortgage. It’s important to be investing and working to pay off your home early. Why? Well, did you know the average millionaire invests steadily into their 401(k) and pays their home off in about 10.2 years? Yep, over the course of 30–40 years, that’s a recipe for building tremendous wealth.

Step 10 – Build wealth, give, and have fun: the last step is the best one. My wife and I have yet to reach it, but can’t wait. Once you pay off your home and have no other debt, you max out retirement, start giving more generously, and use some of your money to have fun. This is where you sit back and enjoy all of the hard work you’ve put in. Enjoy it because you deserve it.

Finally

I know that credit cards are tough. They trap you deep in the vicious cycle of debt and make it damn near impossible to get out. But there’s hope. That light at the end of the tunnel is near. And if you can find it in yourself to change how you act with credit cards and debt, you CAN find the way out. It’s simple – stop borrowing money and get your credit cards paid off – one by one. Again, YOU can do this. But it’s got to be you. No one else is going to do it for you. So get started and crush your credit card debt today!