Yup - during college, I racked up some debt. This happens to a lot of people, unfortunately. If you can get help paying for college like grants or scholarships, then feel blessed - you are. But for the rest of us, there's often a large amount that needs to be paid back. Some may turn to bankruptcy. I maybe could have, but I chose a different route... I promised to pay it and decided that I'd come through on that promise I made.

I'm done with this debt now but I wanted to share my experience in hope that it could help someone else.

So how do you do it? It's going to be some hard work, but you can do it.

1. Get on a debt consulting service. I used Care One, who was just great. They have a lot of online tools to manage my account, which I, of course, liked. What they do is work with your creditors and can get your interest rates down to 0% as long as you make your payments through the plan. This is also good because you just make one payment per month and it's going to be less than what you're paying currently. So this gets you out of hot water.
   
   
2. Next, get on the Dave Ramsey website and read the whole thing if you have to. Basically, his plan is to use a snowball effect. It works really well. Common sense and logic would tell you that you need to pay off the credit card with the highest balance first to save money on interest. Well, with the snowball effect plan, you do not do this. What you do is look at the amount owed and start paying extra on the card with the lowest balance first. You still need to pay your other balances on other cards through Care One but with the Care One plan, you can easily pay extra on other cards and you do it through Care One.
   
   This snowball plan works much better because it's more emotional and you feel better sooner. So pay an extra $50 or whatever you can afford toward the credit card with the lowest balance - it may stretch you a little, but do it. I didn't say this would be easy. Then, once that card is paid, you take the payment you were making on this card plus your extra $50 and pay all of that extra on the next credit card with the lowest balance. Just keep doing that and it goes fast and you feel better.

What will happen here is when a credit card is paid off, that account will be closed. Also, you cannot use any credit cards on this plan for any more purchases. So one thing Dave Ramsey says to do, which I didn't but wish I would have, is first save up $1000 and put it in the bank - in a savings account. It's there if you need it and you'll feel better having it there.

I saw something on the Dave Ramsey site today - actually in a newsletter sent to me, which is really cool. Some lady said, "Recently I have been able to get a job and financially recover. I am currently about finished with my old debt. I am so excited, not because it will improve my credit scores but because of the self-esteem and self-worth I continue to gain as a result financial peace." It's true. You'll feel so much better and life will be easier if you can take care of this. So don't let it drag on but take care of it now. It may take 5 years or maybe even more but do it.

-T

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