Today Was a Great Day for Me but a Bad Day for My Debt!

Today was a great day for me but a bad day for my debt!

Today I was able to make a big payment towards my debt. The largest I have been able to send to this credit card in 4 years! Yep! That's right! The largest payment in 4 years! That's the exciting part. The depressing part is that I feel like it barely made a dent! :(

That's not true... it actually did make a dent, and a pretty good dent at that. Today I paid just over 10% of the total balance of the credit card. Pretty good. Unfortunately, with some planned spending coming up, I don't think I'll be able to do anything like that for a long time. The extra money came from various sources. First, we had some copper wire laying around our backyard from some previous home improvements; we took that to be recycled and received $66. We also had some "extra money" at the end of our pay period in some budget categories and anytime that happens, we send the extra to debt. Lastly my husband worked a few hours of overtime so we were able to take all that extra money and throw it towards our debt.

I'm actually a little scared of where my credit card balance is sitting right now. I know that sounds funny, but hear me out. Over the last four years, my credit card balance has fluctuated a lot up and down, but it has never even come close to being paid off. My goal is to become credit card debt free... like for reals! We haven't charged anything on this card since December 2015 but where the balance on the card is hovering right now is where we always get into trouble. Every time the card is about half way paid off, we somehow find a way to charge on it and max it out again. This has happened several times for various reasons: vacation, Christmas, home improvement projects. I just don't know what's going to keep me from charging on it and maxing it out again?

I guess this is where the rubber meets the road and I have to truly make the conscious effort to get out of debt. 10% of the balance is a great start, but when you're in debt, it's never enough. Being in debt sucks! I am paying for yesterday's stuff with tomorrow's income. If I continue this cycle I will never break free and I want so badly to be free!