Due to an ugly child custody battle, my wife and I were forced to start relying heavily on various credit and store cards just to cover our bills and put food on the table. As you can imagine we racked up some high utilization and our scores sufferd big time. Month after month we paid the minimum balances on each card which of course did us absolutely no good at all. I did some research and discovered the "Debt Snowball" method. I've seen some that loved the idea and others that hated it but I'm here to say that it is working for us! In a matter of 5 months we were able to pay off CFNA, Kohls, Old Navy, Wal Mart, Paypal and Capital One and we aren't stopping there. We are down to balances on only three cards totaling around $3,000 and plan to have that taken care of by November of this year! Hopefully our scores will jump back up so we can secure financing on our first home!
Starting Score: TU 649 EX 632 EQ 603(6/15)
That is fantastic! Paying down debt seems like mission impossible sometimes, but you are totally doing it!! Great job!! 
Starting Scores 2/13/15: EQ 635 EX 674 TU 684 ////7/16/15 Scores: EQ 661 EX 669 TU 703 //// 2/15/16 Scores EQ 652 EX 647 TU 756 //// 3/24/16 Scores: EQ 661 EX 649 TU 773 //// EQ 670 EX 653 TU 768 (EQ And EX still tainted)Thank you, it is a wonderful feeling and i'm excited for my families future.
@parkbuilder wrote:Due to an ugly child custody battle, my wife and I were forced to start relying heavily on various credit and store cards just to cover our bills and put food on the table. As you can imagine we racked up some high utilization and our scores sufferd big time. Month after month we paid the minimum balances on each card which of course did us absolutely no good at all. I did some research and discovered the "Debt Snowball" method. I've seen some that loved the idea and others that hated it but I'm here to say that it is working for us! In a matter of 5 months we were able to pay off CFNA, Kohls, Old Navy, Wal Mart, Paypal and Capital One and we aren't stopping there. We are down to balances on only three cards totaling around $3,000 and plan to have that taken care of by November of this year! Hopefully our scores will jump back up so we can secure financing on our first home!
Congratulations. Nice to take charge of your life like that.
Congratulations. The best way to pay down debt is the best way that works for you.
While one could argue all day that paying off higher APR cards first is more mathematically efficient than the snowball method (not possible to argue this), a more mathematically efficient method you cannot follow through with is a worse choice than a less efficient method that gives you the motivation to keep paying down the debt. While people like me tend to discount the snowball method's effectiveness, many of us are also people who have never really been in debt and thus sometimes forget to consider that people in debt might need the extra motivation to stay positive. I mean we are not all robots
Sorry for derailing your thread a little, but congratulations on nearly being CC debt free and good luck buying that house!
You're absolutely correct, the Snowball Method doesn't make as much sense mathematically however it is very motivating seeing zero balances on multiple cards
