How I Paid Off $16K Of Credit Card Debt in 7 Months (While Pregnant with Twins)

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There I was, looking down at the pregnancy test in total disbelief.

It read POSITIVE!

The first words that came out of my mouth was “I can’t be. I just CAN’T!“

No, not because I didn’t like children — in fact I was hoping to have some one day…but not on a day that I still owed over $16,000 worth of credit card debt.

You see, I wanted to be a stay at home mommy when I had kids, but I knew having debt would prevent me from doing so.

My credit card debt was a mix of stupidity and lack of good sense, – but if you want me to be more specific of the breakdown, it piled on when I decided I’d live off credit cards during half a year of my time at college to pay my bills. Making matters worse I completed my bachelors degree in psychology (sigh).

What a big mistake that was. If only I knew then what I know now.

Anyways…there I was, pregnant and afraid.

It took me awhile to process it. I was in denial for about four days after the initial results, but once I calmed down and took an additional 5 test to confirm (see, I told you I was in denial),– my husband and I got serious and came up with a plan.

Then on our third doctors visit, getting my first ultrasound we got the shocker of our lives that I was pregnant with not one, but two little humans! At that point I just knew we’d end up poor.

But thank God things shifted. Our mindsets changed about money.

Before I continue with the steps we took to pay off $16k of credit card debt, I want to mention that I still do have student loan debt to repay. I’m now on a mission to get my student loans payed off as soon as I possibly can because I’m a firm believer debt equals modern day slavery.

Focusing on my credit card debt was a more realistic goal at the time.

WE FOUND OUR MOTIVATION

Nothing will motivate you more than expecting a human on the way — and since we were expecting two we were doubly motivated.

We knew children weren’t cheap, hence the reason we were trying to hold it off for as long as we could. We were married 5 years before getting pregnant, (and were planning to go longer, but God had other plans).

Knowing that we had twins on the way who would look to us and depend on us for everything, made me want to free up as much money as possible.

As mentioned earlier I wanted to be a stay at home mom, so I wanted to do everything in my power to do so.

During our credit card debt journey I also became obsessed and found motivation reading other people’s success stories of getting out of debt.

I came across the blog Six Figures Under and their journey to become debt free, with a family of six. They were 144k in debt and paid it all off within their goal of 3 years. Talk about inspiring!

When I looked at success stories such as these and another personal fave, Millennial Boss, it motivated me that I could reach the same level of success as they had.

AN ASSIGNMENT WAS GIVEN TO EVERY DOLLAR

We became really strict with monitoring everything that went in and out of our bank accounts. About a week before each month started we wrote down who we owed, the amount we owed, and on what days we needed to pay them.

Anything left over after paying the minimum of each bill would be put towards more debt. We would also pay before the due date or as soon as we got our paychecks so we wouldn’t get tempted to spend any of the money that was left over.

We would do bi weekly check ins to make sure we were on track for that month and that we were going to meet our goal of paying $2,000/month to credit card debt.

If we weren’t we would try to find ways to scale back in other areas so we could accomplish our goal.

I’m a big fan of writing down our monthly budget and bills. I’m old fashioned when it comes to preferring materials that I can read and feel at the same time.

It really helps to have something visual to keep you on track of your finances. Not only does it help with organization, but studies show that when you write something down it’s retained in your memory longer and you are more likely to achieve your goals.

I LOOKED FOR UNIQUE WAYS TO EARN EXTRA INCOME

Even with having $2,000 left over to put towards debt, we still wouldn’t meet that goal of paying off all of my credit card debt with the arrival of our boys due in 7 more months.

We were on a time crunch so I tried to find as many out of the box ways to increase income without doing anything extreme such as switching jobs — I was already very comfortable with my job and didn’t feel like learning a new skill, especially if the ultimate goal was for me to become a stay at home mom.

These ways will not make you rich, but they did help us to keep on track with our goal.

BIG FAT disclaimer coming up.

Even though I am totally against using credit cards while paying off your credit card debt, you can still take advantage and refer friends/family and earn cash back for doing so, which is what I did to earn an additional $300 towards my debt.

Myself and the person referred would receive a $50 reward, BUT I would also always warn the individuals I referred to be careful and responsible when it came to using their credit cards. You have to know yourself and be disciplined.

Credit cards can be a great way to improve your credit score and teach you money management skills, that said I don’t believe they are for everyone.

Great refer cards are Discover and Chase. But again if you know your not good with discipline skip this step, this is what worked for ME.

I also worked a temporary part time job during the holiday season that was able to give me some extra cash.

I knew the job would be temporary and I was in the beginning stages of pregnancy so it wasn’t too strenuous for me. This job only lasted about a month, but was still able to help chip off my debt some.

Other side jobs to earn some quick cash include:

1. Babysitting

2. Be a pet sitter on weekends

3. Become a freelance writer

4. Drive for uber or lyft in your spare time

5. Sell your items you don’t use on ebay or Etsy

6. Become a delivery driver for food services, such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s, etc.

WE STOPPED EATING OUT

Once we started tracking our money, we realized real quick that we loved eating out a little too much…OK a great deal too much. We ate out anywhere from 3 to 6 times per week.

This was due mainly to us not bringing lunch with us to work and instead eating out for our lunch breaks.

Since my husband and I worked at the same location it was easy for us to get in the car and head out to the nearest restaurant together, — but it was also easy for us to bring lunch too, well at least easier than what we thought.

Yes, taking lunch to work does require more planning, but we were able to save an additional $250 a month once we got into the groove of meal prepping.

Not only did we save by starting to grocery shop more, but we also saved in terms of gas money since we weren’t leaving work every lunch break to drive to the restaurant — I’d call that a win win.

Once we started to grocery shop every two weeks, I discovered the app Ibotta, which gives you money back for certain brands (or sometimes any brand) of items you buy.

Learn more and read my ibotta review to discover ways to earn extra money through the app

I became such a pro at ibotta that during those 7 months I was able to earn an additional $63 back and put that towards debt. You may not consider that as much, but I was winning!

What I learned is that any little bit helps when paying off debt.

I still use ibotta every trip to the store and it’s free to sign up for.

The great thing about ibotta is that you are saving money by grocery shopping, and you are also getting money back buying things that you would usually purchase, and then putting that money towards your debt or savings.

Sign up for ibotta and get $10 by using my referral link below. 

WE SHOPPED SMARTER

I only make online purchases when I know I’m going to get cash back, that’s why I love using Ebates.

And to save you the trouble of always having to login through the Ebates app to activate your cash back you can now download the Ebates Browser Tool. It will give you a friendly pop up reminder if you are on a site that can get you cashback on, which almost every major site offers now through Ebates.

I was able to get $60 back and the more people you refer the more unlimited cash back bonuses you earn.

You can get $10 just for signing up. Click here to sign up for Ebates and get an additional $25 every time you refer a friend. They are very generous when it comes to rewarding their users.

I MADE BALANCE TRANSFERS

If a card was charging me a ridiculous amount in interest rate — ( and what card doesn’t these days?), I would transfer that balance to a card that offered 0% APR for the first 12-18 months.

That was able to save me hundreds of dollars. It helped me to focus on one card at a time, while not having to worry about interest piling higher and higher on the interest free cards.

At the same token I made sure to pay off the interest free cards before the promotion expired, that way the balance transfer wouldn’t be in vain.

WE PUT ONLY WHAT WE NEEDED ON OUR BABY REGISTRY

There was no questions about it that we were going to throw a baby shower. Since most of our money was going to debt, I didn’t want to stress about baby items — plus our families really wanted to throw us one since we never had a wedding.

When it came to making our registry I became really strategic. I didn’t go all crazy putting cute outfits on the registry because I knew that those would be the first items a lot of people would purchase.

Instead I focused on the essential items like diapers, wipes, bottles, car seats, etc.

We ended up being so blessed and was thrown two baby showers; one by our family and one by our work family. They really showed love and excitement for the arrival of our twins and we were so grateful for it.

At the shower thrown by our family we also had a diaper raffle where the names of those who gifted diapers would be entered into a drawing to win a prize. It turned out so successful that we didn’t have to pay for diapers for our babies first 14 months of life.

With both showers combined all of the essential items we put on our registry was taken care of and more. To this day I am so thankful for that. It can be scary thinking about how many things you need to buy for even one baby, let alone two.

Related: Ways to save when you are expecting

WE LIVED FRUGAL

We didn’t purchase anything that wasn’t a necessity. If it didn’t have anything to do with a bill, or if it didn’t fit into our budget we didn’t buy it.

The first few weeks of living this way was HARD and we failed a couple of times by still going out during lunch breaks, but after we started seeing the progress it motivated us to find ways that we can become even more strict.

We found new ways to have fun and it really showed us that we can be in control of our money.

You can pay off debt and still find ways to have a good time. Paying off debt doesn’t have to equate to a prison sentence. And remember this is short term sacrifices for long term gain.

When starting the road to frugal living you learn the value of a dollar and just how quickly they can add up…or disappear!

OTHER THINGS WE DID

• We made list before going into stores and we went strictly by that list.

• We avoided randomly going into stores as much as possible, because let’s face it, — the temptation to spend is real. There are advertisements everywhere vying for our every dollar, so the best thing to do is just to flee the temptation.

• We had movie nights at home, (which turned out to be much more fun).

• We still lived a little and made a budget to reward ourselves. This kept us from not giving up or relapsing into a spending frenzy. It’s OK to spend on yourself once in a while, but budgeting for it is key

• We used our income tax return to help put a bigger dent into our credit card debt

• I used money in a retirement account I had accumulated working at a temp job. I decided to withdraw the little money in there because they were charging the account maintenance fees anyway, and I wouldn’t be able to add anything more to the account since I wasn’t working as a temp worker anymore.

So now that we are credit card debt free, was I able to quit my full time job?

Unfortunately no.

I still have student loan debt that I want to be free from and I have two little boys now, so the thought of quitting and not be able to contribute income for my family is a little frightening.

We do have an emergency fund, but I don’t want to have to use it all up in case of an emergency. I know of course that’s what emergency funds are used for, but having no additional income if I were to quit would make it harder to build back up.

We would be able to survive on my husband’s one income, but I thought it wise to first start aggressively paying down my student loans, which as I write is roughly $66,688 (I shudder even thinking about it).

That’s why I started this blog, to hold myself accountable on my student loan debt journey and to hopefully turn my blog into another income. As a result I hope I’ll be able to achieve my dream of being a stay at home mom.

Not going to lie, it broke my heart to have to go back to work full time. That first day I handed my babies off to practically strangers at the time, nearly brought me to tears, but it also helped me to learn from my mistakes.

Debt has prevented me from doing too many things and I’m ready to be done with it for good.

Read also:

• My plan to tackle my $66k worth of student loan debt
• 9 Habits that will easily save you money
• 7 Ways to pay off debt as fast as possible

Still yet, I celebrate the victories, big or small, along the way. Paying off my credit card debt has lifted a huge weight from off my shoulders. I know with this same determination we used for my credit card debt we will accomplish the same for the student loans.

Feel free to join me on this adventure!

How much credit card debt did you have if any? Is your debt preventing you from going after a goal? Let me know in the comments.

Shaniqua

Hi, I’m Shaniqua! I paid off $26,000 of consumer debt and am on the path to pay off all my student loan debt. I’m a future full time blogger who loves to write about ways you can get out of debt fast, save money, and create more income. I’m a wife and mom, and I created debt smashing to share my own debt journey and to empower others to go for their dreams. I’m passionate about helping others to succeed with their personal finances and overall life.