7 hacks for erasing credit-card debt in 2019

In Episode #31, we cover how to deal with credit card debt because it's the big turkey in the room when it comes to shopping—especially after the holidays. You can't get a great deal on anything when you're paying interest on everything. Many cards have rates in the high teens or even as high as 30%. The average American has about $7,000 in debt that's carried from one month to the next. And many people just pay the minimum each month. If you do that, you could end up spending nearly $6,000 on that $7,000 in debt! Think about that—it's almost like paying double for everything you buy.

Credit-card debt was the subject of our first podcast. We decided to revisit the subject because you're probably dreading that first post-holiday credit card bill. (We definitely are!) If you know someone who needs help with their balances, please encourage them to listen in as well! Sites we recommend in this episode include CreditCards.com and Bankrate.com for calculating how long it will take to pay off your debt and for finding low-interest cards, NFCC.org for debt counseling, and Cardpool.com, GiftCardGranny.com, and Raise.com for cashing in gift-cards to help pay off debt. Also check out this article at Bankrate.com for advice on credit counseling. Apps we recommend include: LetGo, Mercari, Poshmark, OfferUp, and Dealo.

Plus, we talk about how to shop smarter for food and eat healthy in the New Year.

We're excited to help you save money and shop smarter in 2019! Please send us your shopping and money questions (on Facebook or our contact page) and we'll answer them in future episodes. Thank you for listening!!!