Kansas City saver pays off credit cards
Getting Disciplined to Save
Ms. Mayes was ready for the message Kansas City Saves had to offer. “Two years ago the Lord put it on my heart to save,” she said. At the time, she had been building up credit card debts, shopping first and worrying about how to pay for it later. “I had too many credit cards, and I used them more than I should.” She carried over her debt, making minimum payments, and shifted debt from card to card. “It was like a dependency.”
When she stared attending Kansas City Saves Meetings, she had already made a start toward paying off those debts. The meetings gave her tips on how to save money, like saving her extra change in a jar, cutting out unneeded services on her telephone bill, and cutting down on pay tv.
Since joining Kansas City Saves, she has taken that message and run with it. Instead of eating her lunches out, she takes a brown bag lunch to work each day. She’s also cut back on entertainment expenses, shops more carefully at the grocery store, and has decided that she and her husband can get by without a second car. “I always try to think about how I can save money. It’s just a discipline thing. I think, where were you all these years that you didn’t think to do this?”
Kansas Saves City Saves also helped her with budgeting, keeping better track of her checking account balance, and making a monthly priority of setting money aside. Just as important, though, has been the support and encouragement she’s gotten from the program. “It was a good feeling knowing I could call someone who said, ‘yeah, you’re doing the right thing.’” She also enjoys the sense of companionship it provides. “I want to be around people who are saving money and living within their means.”
Last year Ms. Mayes managed to pay off, and cut up, two of her credit cards, and her goal is to cut up another two by the end of the year. When she gets her debts paid off, she has no intention of going back to her old ways. “Ten years down the road, when it comes time to retire, I don’t want my children to have to take care of me. I want my money saved. I want my money invested. I want to be taking care of myself, with my own money.”
“I always try to think about how I can save money.” --Beth Mayes