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I thought I wanted to buy a house, but seeing nearly 80 homes in 9 months convinced me to spend my money on something more important
Instead of buying a house in this madcap market, writer Michelle Chikaonda paid off five figures of credit card debt in 18 months.
I went into 2020 with five-figure credit card debt. Just under 18 months later, in mid-June 2021, I paid it off completely.
That wasn’t actually my original intention when I embarked on the project of improving my financial situation, though. My objective was, arguably, to place myself into the best position possible to take on an even greater amount of debt — six figures instead of five: I had decided, at the start of 2020, to finally buy a house.
By then I had lived in Philadelphia for nearly nine years and worked at the same place for over seven; I had a strong community of friends and neighbors around me, was in a city I was for the most part pretty happy with, and I didn’t see myself going anywhere anytime soon.
It made both monetary and personal sense, then, to start converting my rent payments into mortgage payments. I would both be building tangible roots in Philadelphia and investing in my long-term financial future at the same time, and if the time ever came for…
