My Credit Card Debt: An Example of Reverse Snowflaking
Snowflaking your debts can sometimes seem like a never-ending fool’s game of pennies and nickels, but stop for a minute and consider how you acquired your debt in the first place.
Chances are, you employed reverse snowflaking.
That’s right - reverse snowflaking. Many people with credit card debt (myself included) can’t really recall what they spent all that money on. Unlike a mortgage, student loan or car loan, there’s often nothing to show for your oversize credit card statement. That’s because you acquired the debt slowly…little by little.
Take my current credit card balance: $2,300. The last thing I remember was being in college and…I forget the rest. What did I spend the money on? I don’t know - probably a restaurant meal here, a trip to the mall there - maybe a few months’ rent.
It’s not really important. I’ve stopped the problem behavior (using credit) and started paying the money back little by little - the same way I spent it.
Don’t be frustrated if you’re not seeing your balances go down a thousand dollars at a time. Just know that someday, you’ll be out of debt and unable to remember all the little things you sacrificed along the way.
(This post was included in the Carnival of Snowflakes, hosted by paidtwice.)
Photo Credit: Blue Snowflake, Post-Print by Blue Sky, used under Creative Commons licensing
3 responses so far
a very good reminder! i was getting really frustrated yesterday, even seeing that i’ve been able to pay off over 30% of my consumer debt since jan. 1, just because it’s so SLOW! good to be put back on track - it showed up slowly, too. just keep going.
Great post! I know coming to that realization really helped me decide to stop using credit cards. I really like the phrase “reverse snowflaking.”
[...] Finance Gets Personal reminds us that often, we snowflaked ourselves into debt with My Credit Card Debt: An Example of Reverse Snowflaking. [...]