Dribbles and Drabs - The Return

No Credit Needed is running an excellent 33-day series on reducing debt and saving money. I have been and will continue to comment every now and then on the posts.

I have to admit, though, I’ve been kind of slack of getting over there every day. That explains why I’m a late picking up Day 4’s excellent tip on making extra payments and/or deposits . When I was getting out of credit card debt, I nicknamed it my Dribbles and Drabs technique.

Y’all it works.

Every bit of extra cash that wandered into my view went to paying down that credit card. Someone paid me for tickets I’d bought for them. Went to the bill. Got a coupon for a free oil change. The cost of that maintenance went toward the bill. I didn’t spend all of my budgeted food amount for a week. Went to the bill. I even rolled up all my loose change and took it to the bank. That’s $17 on a credit card bill.

The smallest payment I’ve ever made on a credit card bill was $5.13. When I plunked down the five-dollar bill and change, I told the teller that I was getting out of debt. She rewarded me with a “You go, girl!”

Since paying off my credit card, I’ve gotten away from respecting the penny. No more, though. The way I got out of debt is the way I’m going to walk into wealth – by dribbles and drabs. Today, I deposited $21 in my savings account.

Here are some tips if you want to dribble and drab your way out of credit card debt:

First, find out what bank issued your card.

Second, go to their web site and find out their locations. If possible, get one location that is close to your home and one location that is close to your workplace. After all, you never know when you’ll need to turn the cash over. There’s something about physically handing over cash that makes an impression in your mind.

Third, explore your on-line options. Does your bank offer bill pay? What are the requirements and restrictions and costs (if any)?

Fourth, find out how to make payments through regular mail. You can usually find this out through the customer service number. Keep the address where you can send additional payments along with stamps and blank sheets of paper to mail your payment in a folder. Better yet, go ahead and address the envelopes so they’ll be all ready to go.

Fifth, take a mini sticky and write down your current balance and the date. Place it on the back of your credit card. Every time you make a new payment cross of the old payment and write down your new balance and date it. Watch that balance go down, down down!

September Goals
Total Saved - $158.58
Amt to Go - $441.42