<prompt> Human: How I paid off 10k in CC debt in one year 55k, SoCal, NO WINDFALLSI wanted to do a write up in how I paid off my CC debt in a year, because every post I see about people paying down large portions of debt after a major job promotion or raise or change had no meaning to me. I needed to find a way out of credit card debt that was accrued over a large period of time without having to depend on a windfall or major life change, and the majority of the success stories I found were from people already making 6 figures, or had changed jobs multiple times to triple their income. Heres how I did it with a simple 2 cost-of-living raise and a low-mid income.IncomeCOL Stats Begin January, 2015Beginning Cash: 1,000 Dec 31, 2014Location: Southern California, 45 min. North of Los AngelesIncome: 55,000 1,480 Take Home every 2 weeksRaises: 1x 2, effective AprilRent: 775 2 BR Apt, 1550 split with partnerGas: 3.15 - 3.85 galCC Available: 12,400 4 cardsCC Debt: 10,000 81 UsedAvg CC APR: 22Credit Score: 630Car: 455 250 car, 205 insurancePhone: 105Step 1 IMMEDIATE Reduction in Monthly CostsTV Saved 130monthI dropped my DirecTV bill 150 a month at the end of 2014. I had to pay a couple hundred bucks for the cancellation, which was fine, as I saved that much after a month and a half of no service. With the internet a practical necessity, and NetflixAmazonHulu, I substituted 150 in cable for what is relatively 18, since I consider the free Prime shipping to far outweigh what we pay as a household for the service. We also barely watch Amazon streaming, so I dont consider this paid TV for this purpose. I also found an antenna on sale for about 40 purely so I could watch some sports.Phone saved 50monthThe first thing I did was call and change my phone plan. I was grandfathered into unlimited data as long as I had stayed with the rate that I had been paying. However, when I looked at my usage I found that, primarily because Im usually connected to WiFi, I was using less than 3GB of data a month. Switching from my old plan that was around 7 years old, I went from 105 a month to 54 a month.Insurance saved 50monthWhile I had various driving related issues on my record, my insurance for my leased civic started at around 205 a month for the year. I was about to start shopping around, wherein I found that by switching companies I could save around 60-75 a month. However, due to some bad history falling off, safe driver, etc, my insurance ended the year at about 154, and theyve been great in helping me take care of some issues I had along the way, so I didnt feel the need to change. I would say, though, that anyone looking to save money should shop around, as switching companies will result in a money savings the majority of the time.Step 2 Planning and PreparationYNAB You Need a Budget 65I spent money to buy YNAB. Its a tool that was highly touted, and since I didnt really need some of the features of Mint, and YNAB was so user friendly the phone app is too easy, I figured the 65 would not be really frivolous, but instead would be a valuable asset on my road to recovery. Being able to track every dollar I spent was not necessary sometimes, but having the underlying responsibility and commitment to myself in the background forced me to change the way I viewed my money.Also, using the Reporting function on YNAB let me SEE my progress month after month...ok to be honest I checked it like every few days...but SEEING the progress helped keep me on track. I watched the trend move month after month, and this is what I saw at the end: Excel Short Term PredictionsI created a spreadsheet in Excel that tracked all of my cards separately as well. While YNAB does allow you to budget, it does not effectively help you plan down to the days of the month. With payment due dates, bills, etc, I needed a way to not only TRACK my money, but to PREDICT where my accounts would be on any day.This would prove absolutely crucial, as it let me make massive payments without fear of overdrafting or any other bad news pop ups. There were times when my checking account was as low as 20. This didnt really matter, though, because I knew where my money would be days and weeks later with no surprises.Come Up with a Payoff Plan Snowball, AvalancheI needed to decide how I was going to tackle this debt first. Through a series of taking care of partners, bad choices, and various life events, I went from having a 785 credit score and 9 APRs to about a 630 and maxed out 19-25 APRs. I messed around with unbury.me for a little bit, and determined that the course of action would be to tackle the highest APR first. However, my plan wasnt all the way conventional.Balance, APR - 2,000, 23.99Balance, APR - 2,200 22.90Balance, APR - 3,586 19.99Balance, APR - 2,200, 22.90 Cash Rewards CardCreate TINY Emergency Fund - 1,000 Break Glass for DisasterFirst thing I did was change whatever money I had over to my checking account, and put 1,000 in a savings account. This is something I did not touch for the entire year, thankfully, even after paying for car maintenance, fun times, or gift buying, or anything else that came my way.Zero out 401k Contributions Employer Profit Share, NO 401K matchSince my employer doesnt do 401K matching, I had no incentive to keep putting money into my 401K. If this service is available from your employer, do not stop contributing to your retirement funds. I did it solely because there was no extra money to be gained in the short term. If I had matching, I would have saved money elsewhere like food, see below and still maintained retirement contribution funding.Create a BudgetI used YNAB to set up a budget to TRY to stick to. I set a lofty goal of paying off 1,000 in credit cards every month, and worked my budget DOWN from there. I had the complete understanding that I would probably not hit this mark, but it forced me to find out where I didnt really need to waste money. I would barely make this work by the end, through a series of monthly ebbs and flows, but only as an average. I hardly ever hit the 1,000 mark.This would entail paying off 1,000 across all cards. Effectively this would be about 175-200 in minimum payments, and the rest of the 800 all to one card. I often would miss this goal.Step 3 ACTIONHow to Control Spending Using Cash Back Rewards Cards ONLYEven though I had the idea to pay down my highest interest first, the first thing I did was put my first big payment onto my cash rewards card to clear up room. I opened a Capital One Quicksilver with a 1.5 cash back reward at the end of 2014, and made it an effort to use this card for 95 of my purchases. I also have a Chase Freedom that has 5 cash back on rotating categories, which I would swap out to use during certain times of the year. This was moreso a mental thing, as it let me feel like I was actually earning throughout the year, even though I was paying every dollar I had to my name to credit debt. Additionally, I netted just around 450 in cash back rewards by Dec 2015.How to Control Mental Stability Wont Always Hit the GoalAs the months started to wear on, I had to change my budget little by little. I knew by month 3 that paying 1,000 straight to credit cards every month wouldnt work. Luckily by being paid every 2 weeks instead of twice a month, I knew that there would be a month in the middle and end of the year that I would be paid a third check. I used the majority of these checks to catch up on payments.How to Control Emotional Stability Allow yourself some joys in lifeVISUAL REPRESENTATION OF HOW I SPENT MY FUN MONEY: Knowing that having a goal to pay this off in a single year was going to put me far away from some fun things, I focused on and took some liberties whenever something would come up. I would do cheap happy hours with coworkers, I would still buy cheap fun things 20-40 board games that I can play with my GF, a gadget here or there, and I would definitely allow myself to go out to dinner or go on date night with my GF a few times a month.Using YNAB tracking, I realized that I STILL went to eat out to the tune of 300 a month. This, for all intents and purposes, was frivolous fun money. There was no need to spend this much if I had truly cared to reign it in, however food and service in Southern California is not cheap, and I was determined to enjoy myself and my friends and my GF throughout the year. If I had been in uncontrollable debt, or anything more than what I was, I would have cut out eating out to once a month. Luckily my situation was controllable, and I allowed myself the flexibility and peace of mind to swap certain things for the possibility by a month or two. Ultimately, I still paid off my cards in under a year.Step 4 Watching the Weight Fall OffThe BeginningThe first milestone was in March, when I was able to completely pay off my first credit card. This was a major relief, and an acknowledgement that I may actually be able to pull this off. After this first card was down, all I thought about was the next one biting the dust, and the next, and the next.The MiddleMy next payoff was in June. Again, I wasnt hitting my 1,000 mark every month. The realization of that in the beginning allowed me to maintain some sense of self, not feel 100 beholden to the debt schedule, and when the milestones hit, they felt FUN instead of RELIEVING. Once I hit this point I really felt like I had it all in control.The EndBy November I made my last payment. My last. Payment. 10,000 in UNDER a year. I spent some money, I had some fun, I enjoyed myself and my friends, and I paid off the entirety of my credit debt. Un. Believable.Step 5 The Aftermath2015 Chart: At the end of the year as my debts started to become 0, I noticed a major influx of credit line increases and credit score increases. In the span of that year my APRs dropped, my credit score rose by about 80 points, and my available credit was nearly doubled, all WITHOUT a phone call, an email, or any effort to do so. The credit card companies are DIRELY missing the thousands of dollars Ive been paying in interest, and they want me BACK. They have repeatedly raised my credit limits and dropped my interest rates over the past couple of months.Year BeginningEndPhoneJan 2015 - 105Dec 2015 - 54TVJan 2015 - 150Dec 2015 - 18Car InsuranceJan 2015 - 205Dec 2015 - 154Credit Available, Credit UsedJan 2015 - 12,400 10,000Dec 2015 - 22,900 0Credit Score Dont have my final quarter available yet, but I assume it will increase againJan 2015 630Oct 2015 705Cash Back Rewards450FINALEIn short, I was able to pay off 10,000 in credit card debt with a 55,000 salary 2 raise in SoCal in a year by immediately removing paid TV, changing my phone plan, and lowering car insurance. I set aside a credit card to use for all purchases that had 1.5 cash back, which gave me some gift money for Christmas, and let me feel like I was earning throughout the year even though I was paying out every dollar I had.Throughout the year I let myself understand that some months I would only be able to afford 60-70 of my goal, but that was ok. In the end it all worked out.I hope this helps someone who is on the fence or who often gets discouraged by stories of people with 6 figure incomes who cant control their wealth any more than we can. IT CAN BE DONE. And it might be easier...and funner...than you think.EDITCouple things. First off, I would not always suggest that one should cut all retirement savings in the hunt for debt resolution. There were a couple factors that went into me making this decision, one being that my APRs on my credit cards were astronomical. I would suggest spending some time looking into your personal situation and what your company andor personal gainslosses would be before forming your plan.Secondly, thanks for all the positive responses! As for the negative responses telling me oh yeah just pay off 10,000 in a year thaaanks...I get it. Its the internet. Understood. Please save your breath and your fingertip typing tire tread. I simply made this post to give a take on an Average Joes mental and physical tackling of a very common problem, and honestly to call it what it is, lifestyle. Im just hoping to let people know who were in my situation or in my state of mind a year ago that its possible to get it taken care of, even in an average situation.Thirdly, LOL I am not a shill for YNAB. It just seemed to be a better fit for me than Mint. I spent some time on PF reading and looking at peoples stories before I chose it. The main point of this for me was that it held me accountable! Having this little app on my phone requiring me to put all my expenses in, looking at charts and budget tables every week, and seeing negatives where I overspent was like having a little gremlin on my shoulder every time my wallet came out! It was instrumental is changing my perception of money...MY money...the money I earn! And deserve to keep.EDIT - Clarification on Take HomeBudgeting ClarityPeople seem to be asking about my take home a lot, and I think its a very valid point to hammer home. I was bringing home 1,480 26 38,480 55,000 about a 30 withholdings taxes, health, etc. Again, this was at the beginning of the year, and I got a COL increase of 2 a little over quarter of the way through the year.As I mentioned in the OP, I get paid every two weeks, NOT twice a month. This equates to 26 paychecks per year. What I did was budget to the tune of two paychecks a month 1,480 x 2 2,960 and not factor in the extra check that would come around in July and in December. The third paycheck on December 31 paycheck would end up not mattering in this instance, as I had already paid everything off by the beginning of December, however the third check I got in July went to car registration 200, GFs birthday spending Aug, some fun activities, and an extra payment dollars towards the card I believe I put in an extra 500 out of this? Along with the monthly. Whatever was left over wasnt a lot I let sit in my account so it had more than 20 :.Had I not gotten this extra payment, I still could have spent the same in August and finished the pay-off in December, however this wasnt extra cash. This was a budgeting decision.. I decided to budget only off of 35,520, not my annual take home of 38,480. This was primarily an emotional facet, as the money was coming to me either way, but in an effort to reel in my spending habits, and to experience some joy over the Summer, I chose to not budget for that third check in July.EDIT - Excel Tracking ExampleExcel File Dropbox LinkThis is a portion of how I tracked my ACTUAL cash flow inout, regardless of budgetsbudgeting software. The budgeting software helped me allocate, while Excel helped me track. I hesitate to post the full document, as Im not sure how useful it would be to anyone elses situations, but Id be willing to help someone get one together for themselves if it would mean getting them on the right path to debt resolution TODAY.Ill attach a screenshot of one of my Excel sections that I used to forecast my money. I also did this in the same worksheet for all of my credit cards.As it may be confusing to some, Ill break it down a little bit. Youll see in it that I have a salary paid, rent and bills paid, and then future forecasted payments in gray. Well have the Chase payment this was minimum 5, the Cap One payment this was THE card I was paying down at the time, plus a Quicksilver payment for a large amount. This Quicksilver one was NOT paying down debt! It was simply paying down the amount I had used during the month of March, as I used that card for 90 of my purchases to accumulate cash back rewards. This is how I tracked not only where my money was going, but where it would be on a day-to-day basis.This also REALLY helped me see how much money I DIDNT HAVE! By March 26 I would have 3,500 in money in my account. Normally this would be telling myself hey, I can definitely afford to buy something worth a couple hundred bucks! But no...now we see by April 3, literally a week afterwards, my account would only have 193 in it.Again, this is just an example of how I did it. I would set it up differently depending on needs, accompanying software, and personal setup.  <response>: Awesome story! I am currently embarking on a similar journey to pay off 15K in one year. Also living in SoCal, a little higher income. This is very inspiring and you have convinced me to stop contributing more than my employer matches for the 401k and put that toward debt 