I Paid Off $27,000 in Debt in 18 Months on a $68,000 Salary — Here’s the Exact Plan I Followed (Step-by-Step)

How I Paid Off $27k Debt in 18 Months on $68k Salary

I still remember the exact moment I decided I was done being broke.

It was a random Tuesday in June 2023. I was sitting in the grocery store checkout line with $42 worth of food and my card got declined. Twice.  

I had to put back the chicken and the eggs and walk out with just bread and peanut butter.  

I was 32 years old, making $68,000 a year, and I couldn’t even buy groceries without panic-free.

That night I opened every single credit-card statement and wrote the numbers on a piece of paper:  

Total owed: $27,400 across four cards  

Average interest rate: 23.4 %  

Monthly interest alone: $535

I felt physically sick.

But that sickness turned into pure rage, and rage turned into action.

18 months later  December 2024  I made the final payment.  

$0 credit-card debt.  

$0 interest payments.  

An extra $900 a month back in my pocket forever.

Here’s the exact plan I followed, week by week, dollar by dollar. No fluff, no “manifest abundance,” no side-hustle that made me $10k overnight. Just a normal guy with a normal job who finally got angry enough to win.

normal guy with a normal job who finally got angry enough to win using these 50 habits

  Phase 1 – The Wake-Up Call (Month 1): The 30 Days That Made Me Want to Cry, Then Made Me Rich

I still remember the exact night I finally decided to stop lying to myself.

It was a random Thursday in June 2023. I had just gotten paid, and by the following Tuesday my checking account was already down to $38.  

I knew something was seriously wrong, but I had no idea how bad it actually was.

So I did the scariest thing I’d done in years: I opened a Google Sheet and tracked every single penny I spent for the next 30 days.  

Every coffee. Every Uber. Every $4.99 app. Every $42 late-night Domino’s I ordered while half-asleep.  

Everything.

For the first week I thought, “This isn’t so bad.”  

By day 12 I was genuinely angry at myself.  

By day 21 I wanted to burn the laptop.

Here’s what that brutal month actually revealed:

- $238 on takeout and delivery (I was “too tired to cook” almost every night)  

- $192 on random Amazon purchases I couldn’t even remember five days later  

- $117 on daily Starbucks runs (I was literally spending more on coffee than on my car insurance)  

- $93 on subscriptions I had completely forgotten existed (including a $29.99 workout app I used exactly once in 2022)

That’s $640 a month $7,680 a year  disappearing on complete autopilot.  

Money I could have used to kill my debt, build a cushion, or take a real vacation.  

Instead, it went to corporations because I refused to look.

That spreadsheet became my mirror.  

And I didn’t like the person looking back.

So I took immediate action:

1. I opened a brand-new checking account at a completely different bank (Ally, online only) with zero overdraft protection.  

   If the money wasn’t there, the card would just decline. No more “I’ll pay it back next week” lies.

2. I went full Marie Kondo on my apartment.  

   Anything I hadn’t touched in the past year went on Facebook Marketplace that same weekend:  

   - Old gaming laptop → $580  

   - Clothes and shoes I “might wear again” → $780  

   - Random electronics, watches, books → $1,480  

   Total cash in 3 weeks: $2,840

I took that $2,840 and made the biggest payment I could on my highest-interest card.  

It felt better than any purchase I’d ever made.

That first month wasn’t fun.  

It was embarrassing, frustrating, and honestly kind of humiliating.  

But it was also the exact moment I stopped being a victim of my own bad habits and started becoming the person who was finally going to win with money.

If you’ve never done a 30-day spending diary, stop everything and do it right now.  

I promise you’ll find at least $200–$500 a month you’re throwing away without realizing it.

That money is your raise.  

It’s your debt killer.  

It’s your future freedom.

Go get it.  

I’m cheering for you.

Phase 2 – The Debt Avalanche + Cash Envelopes (Months 2–9)

I chose avalanche (highest interest first) because I’m a math nerd and wanted to save the most money.

Debt list on day 1:  

1. Capital One – $11,200 @ 26.99 %  

2. Chase – $8,300 @ 24.99 %  

3. Amex – $5,900 @ 22.99 %  

4. Citi – $2,000 @ 19.99 %

Every single extra dollar went to card #1.  

I paid minimums on the others ($380 total) and threw everything else at Capital One.

Where the extra money came from:  

- Cut eating out from $400 → $80/month  

- Cancelled 27 subscriptions → $178/month  

- Sold more stuff → $1,600  

- Picked up 6–8 extra shifts/month → $900–$1,200  

Average attack payment: $2,400–$2,800/month  

Capital One was dead in 5 months.

Then the avalanche rolled downhill faster and faster.  

By month 9 the last card hit zero.

Phase 3 – The Victory Lap (Months 10–18): When the Money I Used to Give Away Started Working for Me Instead

The day I made the final $312 payment on the last credit card (September 12, 2024), I just sat on the couch and stared at the $0.00 balance for a solid ten minutes.

Then I cried a little.  

Not gonna lie.

For the first time in my adult life, nobody owned me.

That same night I opened my budget spreadsheet and did something that felt almost illegal:

I took the exact $2,600/month I had been sending to credit-card companies for years and gave it brand-new jobs.

Here’s where every single dollar went starting October 2024 (and still goes today in December 2025):

1. $1,000 → Emergency Fund

   This money lived in Ally at 4.20–4.35 % the whole time.  

   Eight months later (May 2025) the account hit $20,000.  

   I celebrated by buying the nicest steak I could find and eating it alone in peace, knowing no surprise bill could ever hurt me again.

2. $1,000 → Roth IRA (Vanguard)

   I maxed 2024 in October ($7,000 total for the year) and 2025 in May ($7,000 again).  

   That’s $14,000 total, now worth $18,600 because the market did its thing while I slept.

3. $600 → Taxable Brokerage Account (also Vanguard VTSAX)

   This is my “I want to buy a house / rental property / quit my job” fund.  

   15 months of $600 deposits = $9,000 contributed → current value $11,800.

Total new wealth created from money that used to disappear into interest payments:  

$48,400 in real, touchable, growing money in just 18 months.

That’s not “extra” money from a raise or a side hustle.  

That’s the exact same money I was already earning just no longer being thrown away.

Every time I see those accounts go up now, I get this stupid little smile because I know exactly where that money would have gone before:  

- $700–$800/month straight to Chase, Capital One, and Amex  

- For stuff I don’t even remember buying

Now?  

It’s buying me freedom, one automatic transfer at a time.

The best part: I didn’t have to “find” this money.  

I didn’t have to earn more.  

I just stopped bleeding it.

If you’re reading this and still paying credit-card interest…  

That payment you’re about to make this month?  

Imagine it going into your own investment account instead of a bank’s pocket.

That day is closer than you think.  

Just finish the fight first.

Then run your victory lap.  

It feels even better than I’m describing.

 Still celebrating every single day..

The Real Secret Nobody Talks About

It wasn’t the budget spreadsheet.  

It wasn’t the side hustle (I didn’t have one at first).  

It was the decision that I was no longer willing to be the kind of person who pays $500+ a month just to stay broke.

Once I made that decision, everything else became easy.

If you’re reading this and you have credit-card debt right now…  

I see you.  

I was you.  

And I promise you: the other side is so much better than you can imagine.

You don’t need a higher salary.  

You need a plan and the willingness to be a little uncomfortable for a little while.

Start tonight.  

Open those statements.  

Write the real numbers down.  

Then come back here and tell me in the comments what your first payment is going to be.

I’ll be here cheering you on  because I know exactly how good it feels when that balance finally hits $0.00.

You’ve got this.  

Let’s go get your money back.