I paid off $11,000 of credit card debt in 18 months while still traveling, shopping and living my life

Yes, I am a personal finance reporter with over seven years of experience telling readers how to wisely manage their money. Yes, I've also been in credit card debt for basically all of that time. 

I have carried a balance on one or more credit cards for nearly all of the 10 years I have had credit cards. Sometimes, especially in the early years when I was still a college student, I did not have the cash on hand to pay it all off. Most of the time, however, I just didn't have the discipline.

I was making more than the minimum payment every month, but I also felt like credit card debt was normal so I didn't make a concerted effort to fully clear my balance. I assumed when my peers were putting things on credit, they too, weren't paying it off right away, though many of them actually were. 

I did get my cards paid off for a brief period in 2020 when I put my Covid-19 stimulus checks toward my debt. But then I got a dog, moved into my own apartment and continued traveling and spending at levels I felt were manageable. Soon I was carrying a balance again and that balance gradually grew to a peak of $11,310 in March 2025.

But as of Sept. 18, I am credit card debt-free. Here's how I racked up five figures of debt and paid it all off in under two years.

My debt came from a mix of genuine necessities and trivial pursuits. I charged vet bills and supplies for my dog but also flights and hotels for trips whenever I felt like I could afford them, and treated myself to dinner or a new outfit admittedly too often. Instead of intentionally making payments to bring down the balance, I'd often use so-called "girl math" to justify my continued card usage. I'd make a mental note of whatever I spent when I swiped my card, then pay back what I thought was more than the total I'd spent — without actually keeping track or paying much attention to the interest adding up.

For example, in October 2024, I spent $764 on one of my cards on dog-sitting services, a hotel and dining out, and I made payments totaling $838, which seemed like a net positive. But when you factor in the $60 I was charged in interest during that period, it was as if I'd hardly made a payment at all.

Despite the months I paid the credit card company more than I spent, an interest rate of at least 21% made my balance continue to grow. My strategy was purely vibes-based, just spending when I wanted to then throwing a chunk of money from my paycheck at my balance every other week. I didn't really sit down and look at the numbers to see how much I was moving my balance each month — or in which direction it was headed.

The end of 2024 and beginning of 2025 got particularly spend-heavy as I went on several trips and attended my best friend's wedding. I got a bit carried away, and my balance surpassed $10,000. Though I checked my account regularly, it didn't really occur to me how dangerous it was to carry that much debt. If I'd lost my job for a period or had some expensive emergency at that time, I could have struggled to keep up with even a minimum payment or meet my other financial obligations.

Thankfully, that didn't happen. I could still manage all my regular monthly bills including my rent and student loan payment. I was still contributing to my 401(k) and some emergency savings. Chipping away at my credit card debt felt like just another one of those obligations, not something that was actively holding me back.

I started dating my now-fiancé in early 2025, and he kindly helped me realize how significant this level of debt was, even if it's not all that uncommon. Around 45% of credit cardholders have carried a balance at least one month in the last year, according to LendingTree's analysis of Federal Reserve data. Americans with any kind of debt have an average credit card balance of $7,756 as of the first quarter of 2026, per LendingTree's analysis of over 400,000 of the company's users.

I sat down with my budgeting spreadsheet and crunched the numbers. Pulling up my monthly credit card statements, I looked at the net payments I was making on the debt each month and was fairly surprised to see how many months I was actually adding to the balance instead of bringing it down, even slowly.

There are plenty of tactics people use to address credit card debt, from putting their cards in the freezer to committing to "no-spend" periods. I am fortunate enough that I didn't have to take any kind of drastic measure when I got serious about paying off my debt.

I did cut back on some spending areas, mainly dining out and shopping for clothes. Living in New York, it's easy to drop $100 on dinner or drinks with friends. I said yes to fewer nights out, and when I went out to dinner, I would skip the $15 cocktail, for example. I stopped Ubering home as frequently as I used to, saving another $40 or so when I did go out.

I can be a very impulsive shopper when it comes to clothes, so I got more intentional about pre-selecting items and waiting before buying to make sure I really needed or wanted them. Instead of going to Target and mindlessly adding things to my cart, I'd make online orders so I only got what I needed. I made a great effort to save for trips ahead of time and paid those charges off right away instead of over several months.

And instead of just throwing big chunks of money at my debt hoping it would exceed whatever I spent in a month, I actually started putting my monthly statement balance in a spreadsheet. This way, I couldn't deny the months I added to my balance, despite still making payments. I moved in May 2025, so that month, for example, my balance went up slightly as I paid movers instead of putting extra cash toward my debt.

For the most part, I would use my debit card for purchases, but I didn't cut myself off from my credit card altogether.

I took the classic budgeting advice of "paying myself first" to work down my credit card balance while also saving some for emergencies. On my biweekly pay days, I made a payment on my credit card balance and had an automatic contribution to my emergency savings fund. Then I'd use whatever was left in my checking account for groceries and other necessities. I'd often make an extra payment the weeks I didn't get paid, too, if I had extra cash after those essentials. From October 2025 through September 2026, I've managed to throw nearly $600 a month, on average, at my debt.

That emergency fund proved especially handy in May 2026 when my dog had a very expensive vet visit.

It's something I write about often — how it's smart to keep emergency savings even while you're paying down debt — but actually going through it was a good learning experience. It kind of hurt to have to tap into the cash savings I'd been really proud of building. But in the end, I was glad I didn't just have to add the $6,000 vet bill to my credit card debt. It slowed down my progress a bit that month, but ultimately didn't derail me. And now that I'm not putting $500 toward credit card debt every month, I can focus on rebuilding my savings and other financial goals.

Personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary recently told me "Debt limits your possibilities." I didn't really feel that way when I was on a vacation that I charged to my card. But as I recently turned 30, started planning my wedding and thinking about my future, I started feeling like my debt payment is a bill I don't need or want to have to pay every month. And I feel lighter without it.