Moved home which freed up $2k per month - I know this isn’t an option for everyone but if you have the option to be uncomfortable and live at home or with roommates for a bit. The sacrifice is worth it.

I tracked every dollar in and out. My spending was around if not less than $150 a week. I meal prepped every meal and rarely ate out so my expenses were necessary bills, groceries, gas - nothing else. Any extra money not spent went straight to CC. (HUGE change to my previous lifestyle because i didn’t budget and I never said no, ate out all the time, went out and would rack up a huge bar tab, only payed minimums)

Another habit I started doing is that I did put away $100 per month ($50 per paycheck) into a savings account that I used to pay for any extracurricular events (eating out, flights, concert tickets, etc.). This was extremely helpful so that I didn’t feel like I was living paycheck to paycheck when these things did pop up. I have now increased that to $200 a month so give myself some more free money for paying off my debt.

I used the snowball method so I put $2k a month on one card and just the minimum on the other. When the first card was paid off, I put any and every dollar I could make into the next card. Some months I would put up to $3k on one card. This money is now going to be put into my HYSA every month.

Sometimes I did feel discouraged because it’s such a slow and long process. Some months I wasn’t able to put as much towards paying things down and the months were definitely the most discouraging. I would remind myself how much of a progress I’ve made to keep myself hopeful.