My credit card debt is well above average, no doubt about it. I’ve been asked how it got this high. This sounds bad but I’m not really sure how it got this high. Other than the two credit card checks I used last month ($3,000), I really haven’t used my credit cards in YEARS.
Here’s some things I know we charge in the past 13 years and the approximate purchase year. Most of them seem like stupid needless purchases now and I regret most of the purchases.
$4,000 Master bedroom set - 1998
$4,000 Computerized Sewing/Embroidery machine - 1998
$2,500 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we no longer own - 1996 (regret)
$2,500 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we no longer own - 2002 (regret)
$3,000 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we currently own - 2005 (regret)
$5,500 Tires, Wheels and adaptors for a vehicle we currently own - 2006 (regret)
$2,000 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we currently own - 2005 (regret)
$1,200 Quilting machine with frame - 2001 (regret)
$1,200 Treadmill - 2002 (regret)
$10,000 (guess) for various trips/short vacations - 1995 to 2005 (regret)
Those are all the major purchases I can think of right now. They add up to $35,900, that’s far short the $41,000+ I owe right now. I’m thinking the majority of the other purchase were for gasoline. I guess I’m still paying for gas I burned 12 years ago. That’s really dumb.
I think the biggest reason why we are have accumulated so much debt is because for the first 10 years of our marriage, my husband worked overseas. When he’d come home on days off, I wanted him to have whatever he wanted, I really couldn’t tell him “no”. So we’d spend with cash and then when he’d go back to work I’d try and sort it all out. If I came out short, my credit cards where there to help me out. While my husband was at work he had a horrible eBay habit that was costing me literally $1,000 +/- a month. To compensate, I’d sell stuff on eBay and the more I sold the more he spent.
Okay, let me have it! 
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Jim ~ mydebtblog.com 05.30.08 at 1:35 pm
It seems like a third of your debt went to tires, a third to vacations, and the remaining to other stuff. At least you picked 2008 to start tackling this before it could have doubled in another 10 right? I know how rough it is to be paying for stuff you no longer have. The real question is do you guys have any stuff you’re willing to sell off to help boost paying it off? You’ve done a great job so far getting the taxes and truck paid off. Don’t beat yourself up over the past though.
ksquare 05.30.08 at 6:05 pm
I can totally relate. I ran up alot of my credit card debt buying things & gifts to “please” my friends & to keep up with the “Joneses” - that’s why I wasn’t able to even think about buying a house until I was about 37. In the year I have owned the house I have racked up more debt - you would think I had learned my lesson - but I wanted to have things just right and right now for my house and to please my girlfriend. I am paying for it now…. the stress and worrying I thought was behind me when I paid off my debt 2 years ago is returning.
I am working on my plan to pay this off and this time for good - I need to be able to concentrate on maintaining good health. I have been reading alot of blogs including yours. They are inspiring me to build an emergency fund and make a plan to eliminate my debt. I am also learning many ways to be smarter with my money and my spending habits.
SO, I want to say thanks for sharing your story and your plan! Remember though… what is in the past is in the past - we can’t dwell on it. Do your best and work hard and smart to pay this off and keep in mind what the road looked like that took you there in the first place - that way you can avoid it in the future!
Good luck!!
twiggers 06.01.08 at 3:33 pm
I hear ya about regrets…I am full of them too! So much useless crap that we bought that I no longer have. Fortunately, about 20K of it was things I was easily able to liquidate and sell to help pay down the debt! The scarier thing is to calculate with interest how much that stuff cost! Makes me never want to use a credit card again!