In a personal finance essay for CNBC, a personal finance reporter and columnist Michelle Singletary examine the realities of eliminating five-figure credit card debt, detailing how a personal balance reached $11,310 before being fully cleared. The author traces a 10-year history of carrying credit card balances, driven by a mix of everyday spending, travel, and a casual approach to monthly repayments that relied on mental math rather than strict tracking. Sometimes, especially in the early years when the author was still a college student, there was no cash on hand to pay it all off, though most of the time the writer simply lacked the discipline. The author briefly cleared the cards in 2020 by putting Covid-19 stimulus checks toward the debt, before getting a dog, moving into an apartment, and continuing to travel and spend.
Reaching an $11,310 Peak in March 2025
The debt accumulation accelerated during late 2024 and early 2025, fueled by multiple trips, wedding attendance, and moving expenses, which pushed the balance past the $10,000 threshold in March 2025. The writer notes that despite making biweekly payments, interest rates of at least 21% continuously eroded the impact of those contributions. For example, in October 2024, the writer charged $764 for dining out, dog-sitting, and a hotel stay. Although payments totaled $838 that month, $60 in accrued interest left the net balance virtually unchanged.
Transitioning to Spreadsheet Tracking and Controlled Spending
To reverse the trend, the writer abandoned what is described as "vibes-based" repayment in favor of a structured spreadsheet to log monthly statement balances. Instead of intentionally making payments to bring down the balance, the writer would often use so-called “girl math” to justify continued card usage. Alongside this tracking, discretionary spending on dining out, rideshares, and impulsive clothing purchases was scaled back. The author continued using a debit card for most daily purchases while avoiding total card abstinence, directing an average of nearly $600 per month toward the debt from October 2025 through September 2025.
Preserving Emergency Savings Through Vet Bills
The repayment strategy incorporated concurrent contributions to an emergency fund, which prevented new debt when a major veterinary expense arose in May 2026. While tapping into accumulated cash savings slowed the debt payoff temporarily, it avoided adding a $6,000 charge to credit cards. LendingTree data cited in the report indicates that roughly 45% of cardholders carried a balance for at least one month over the preceding year, with Americans holding any form of debt averaging a credit card balance of $7,756 in the first quarter of 2026. And now that the writer is not putting $500 toward credit card debt every month, the focus can shift to rebuilding savings and other financial goals. Personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary recently told the author Debt limits your possibilities,
though the writer didn’t really feel that way when charging a vacation to the card.
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