It took me a year to pay off my credit card debts from $20,321 to $13,942. During my credit card debt reduction, I have come to realize that paying off credit card debts is not as complicated as people think. In fact, simplicity is the key to reducing credit card debts bit by bit.

What ingredients are there in simplicity? Increase Your Income, Cut Down Your Expenses, and Pay More than the Minimum Payments Monthly Without Fail.

And then? Repeat the steps month after month, Increase Your Income, Cut Down Your Expenses, and Pay More than the Minimum Payments Monthly Without Fail.

1. Increase Income. Let me remind you that increasing income will not help you in reducing your debts if you do not cut down on your expenses. You need to cut down spending and increase income simultaneously in order to pay down your debts faster.

When I started my debt reduction last year, I did try to increase my income online. Unfortunately, I didn’t try to cut down on my expenses. The staggering amount of credit card debts dropped way too slow.

2. Reduce Spending or Expenses. Using tips and ways of saving money to cut down expenses has no doubt increased my spare money in hand that can be used to pay off credit card debts.

It is important to know where your money goes to. If you don’t know where your money goes to, how are you going to reduce your expenses? Write down everything you buy down to the last dollar. Don’t stop at the obvious things like rent, utilities, gasoline and food – include the ancillary items like sodas and snacks as well as chewing gum or sweets . Use a notebook to keep track of where your money goes to every month.

My moving to a small village to live has also helped me in reducing expenses tremendously. From food, to grocery, to clothes, everything is cheaper in the village if compared to the city.

3. Pay More Than the Minimum Payments Monthly, Without Fail. The minimum payment is designed to keep you on the hook longer. The credit card companies are in this business to make a profit and want to have you paying them for years to come. Even a little extra each month makes a big difference in the long run and may cut years off your payments.

See, it’s that simple. Just follow the debt reduction tips month after month. To do this, you need Discipline, Determination and Persistence.

Like many debtors, I used to look for more ways or methods to pay off my credit card debts. But no matter how many ways or methods I had learned, if I failed to put them in practice with discipline, determination and persistence, I was still stuck in the deep debt hole.

Since then, I keep reminding myself — Increase My Income, Cut Down My Expenses, and Pay More than the Minimum Payments Monthly Without Fail.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.