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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Blue 
 
 
Question: 
 
How do I get out of credit card debt? 
 
Answer: 
 
A lot of people have credit card debt, and I can tell you this, that 
getting in debt is a lot easier than getting out of debt.  The first thing 
that you’ve got to do to get out of your credit card debt is of course 
stop getting into debt, so that you’re not continuing to add to the 
problem that you have. 
 
But I think there’s a question that you need to ask yourself, before you 
even start the physical process of getting out of debt, and that is, 
“How did I get here? What were the things that caused me to get 
here?” 
 
Typically, credit card debt is systematic of something else. It could be 
a symptom of poor discipline. It could be a symptom of poor self-
worth, for example, I feel better when I buy something than when I 
don’t, and therefore I overspend on my credit cards. It could be a 
symptom of just poor money management, and not really disciplining 
myself and understanding the cost. It could be marital conflict causing 
me to be getting into credit card debt. 
 
So, you need to say, first of all, “Why am I getting into debt? How did 
this happen?” and you need to solve the problem, because the debt is 
just the symptom of the problem. So, you don’t want to solve the 
symptom without solving the problem.  
 
 
 
Once you identify the problem and you’re dealing with that one, then 
how do you handle the symptom—how do you handle getting out of 
the debt? Well, first of all, of course, you stop going in debt, and then 
secondly, you begin some type of repayment plan. 
 
I typically tell people, start by paying off that smallest credit card bill 
first, and then taking that same payment that you were making there, 
applying it to the next smallest credit card bill, and then applying both 
of them to the third, and so forth.  
 
It may take you a long time to get out of debt. It’s certainly going to 
take you longer to get out than to get in, because you’re paying those 
credit card bills back with after-tax cost — and that’s okay, because I 
think what you will find is that as you begin the process of paying off 
that credit card debt, you begin to feel better and better and better 
about yourself. And there’s nothing like having no credit card debt 
whatsoever. 
 
So, start the process right now by asking yourself, “How did I get into 
this situation?” 
 
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