I paid off a credit card tonight. I didn't transfer part of the balance to another card and then pay off the rest. I paid it all off. In cash.

I just completed the online bill payment for almost $900 and it felt great. It has taken me months to get the balance down this low, but it was worth it. This means one less bill to pay for the rest of my life.

Once you're committed to paying off your debt, it's important to keep the end result in mind. Sometimes it seems like it will never happen, but I can promise you it will.

Think about how long it took to run up the balance on the card. It may take even longer to pay it off since the bank has interest on their side, but you will get it paid off.

As long as you never charge again, you're in control. As you start paying down the balance, the bank might try to tempt you with things like a higher limit or special interest rates, but don't give in.

Higher limits only lead to higher payments and special interest rates always end. There's nothing that any bank can do to change my mind. No matter how enticing they try to make it sound, the only real purpose of a credit card is to make the bank rich.

The only real "no hassle" credit card is one with a zero balance. It makes me very happy to know that Capital One will never be able to hassle me again.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go celebrate...