“Flash back to 2007. I had just moved to Utah from Colorado and started a new job at an advertising agency. I had a master’s degree, a satisfying career and a good salary. Life was good, right?It would appear so, but upon closer inspection, you would see my $32K+ in credit card debt, $55K+ in student loans, a 560-ish credit score and a penchant for $500 shoes. Really.

Up until that point, I’d always told myself, ‘You can pay it off later when you make more money.’ But you know what? The more money I made, the more I spent. (Isn’t it funny how that seems to work?) Something had to change.

So, how am I now free of credit card debt (with a 780+ credit score to boot)? Here are 5 of my most successful getting-out-of-debt strategies:

1. I canceled all my magazine subscriptions and cable. 
One of the first things I did when I started paying off my debt was to get rid of all the little expenses like magazine subscriptions and cable. The direct result was that I saved a few hundred dollars a year. But the unintended (and much more valuable) indirect result was that limiting my exposure to advertising dramatically decreased my desire for new things.

2. I used public transportation. 
When I decided to pay off my debt, I was filling up my gas tank about once a week at a cost of $50 or so. Even though I was driving a relatively fuel-efficient Volkswagen Jetta, I was still spending $200/month on fuel. My employer was willing to pay for either a monthly parking pass or public transportation pass. Since my apartment was walking distance from a bus stop, I gave up my downtown parking spot and saved myself over $100/month by taking the bus.

3. I analyzed past spending habits. 
I had no idea where my money was going before I started my debt-reduction plan. My husband-to-be convinced me to spend a few hours analyzing two years’ expenditures (using online credit card/bank statements) before we got married. Much to my surprise, I was spending about $20K more a year than I made! This was a huge step in helping me to develop self-control.

4. I wouldn’t buy anything over $50 without thinking about it for a week. 
You may have heard that you shouldn’t buy anything over $100 without thinking about it for 24 hours. I was serious about paying off debt, so I took this a step further and reduced the amount to $50. And instead of sleeping on it, I gave myself a week to decide on purchases. Oftentimes, I found I either didn’t need or want the item anymore at the end of the waiting period.

5. I realized being financially smart is never embarrassing. 
Prior to beginning my path to zero credit-card debt, I often felt the need to “save financial face” in public purchasing situations. For example, if a salesperson was pitching me an $80 t-shirt or face cream I knew I didn’t need, I would buy it just to appear that doing so was no big deal to me. And if I was out to dinner, I wouldn’t dare share a meal to save money because I found that to be extremely humiliating.

Once I changed my mindset, I became more embarrassed for the person who thought they needed an $80 t-shirt than I was for not being able to (or wanting to!) afford one. I realized that all the people I was trying to impress didn’t matter.