So, if you’re reading this, it’s a pretty good bet that you’ve heard that you should pay more than the minimum monthly balance on your credit card debt.

Well, what you may not realize is that advise is now more relevant than ever. The credit card reforms that went into play this year make it possible for those of us with credit card debt to save a lot of money and hopefully get out of debt faster – if we abide by the rule and pay more than the minimum. In fact – the Center for Responsible Lending says that the reform will save about $2 for every dollar you pay above the minimum. Pretty sweet, huh?

I just cancelled my Bank of America credit card today – I actually had two with BOA, but they cancelled one due to inactivity towards the end of last year. I must have missed notification – if they even need to send it. So, I cancelled the remaining card.

I hadn’t carried a balance on the cards for probably over a year now, but didn’t want to cancel them in case the reduction in available credit would impact my overall credit score and therefore my rates on existing balances.

But with the new credit card rules coming into effect and the current state of lending – I feel that now is as good a time as ever to cancel my zero balances. I’m making good progress in paying down debt and if there are any repercussions to canceling cards – I’m betting that it will help in the long run if I just start making adjustments now.

One thing I do know so far is that I’m thrilled to no longer have any ties to Bank of America.

The Daily Show took a turn trying to explain the effect that the new credit card rules will have. Funny and frightening at the same time…

This past weekend I watched the documentary “Maxed Out”  (trailer here)based off the book of the same name by James Scurlock. I definitely recommend this movie to those, like me, trying to get out of credit card debt and also to parents of kids heading off to college (where it seems to all begin).

Another month down and I’m pleased that the numbers show that I’m making some progress chipping away at my debt. The credit card pay down combined with a decent increase my emergency fund due to the renewed focus have my net worth being a thousand dollars better than last month. Still a negative number – but I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully am picking up some momentum. At least that’s what it feels like – which is good.

My tax refund should be in my account by the end of this month. If all goes to plan, this should materialize as a reached (initial) goal of $1000 in my emergency fund by June and the milestone of getting my credit card debt below $20K. Not bad for the 2nd month of the year.

I know there’s still a long road ahead, but I am really starting to feel good about my finances and my debt plan. Some scary things still loom on the horizon – job insecurity, economic uncertainty, etc. – but I’m trying to plan for the unexpected now so that it doesn’t set me back if anything were to happen. Something I should have done right from the start of my career – or sooner. Oh well, lesson for my future kids – if they’ll listen.

Last note, I mentioned the economic uncertainty as being something that I need to watch out for in the future. However, I have to say that I am really proud of myself for buckling down and improving my finances little by little during the current economy. Each time I read a story about consumers buying less and saving more, I feel like I’m reading a story about me. It’s nice to be part of a statistic that I can be proud of – instead of the usual statistics associated with my type of finances.

Anyway…onward.

…well a little at least.

According to this article on CNN.com:

Buying gasoline with a credit card could be hurting your local independent gas station owner – and you may have to pay for it.

That’s because credit cards charge merchant fees in the form of a percentage of sales – and those fees eat into the fixed per-gallon sum that gas retailers tack onto pump prices.

Some stations raise prices in order to keep profit steady.

It makes sense. All I know is that I’m glad that I now have shredded all my credit cards and have taking public transportation to work for a full year now. The timing seems to have worked out in my favor.

Interesting article about the credit card regulation on LAtimes.com today.

Among other things, the regulation asks for:

• Bills to be mailed out 21-days prior to due date
• An end to the practice of applying payments only to balances with the lowest interest rates (leaving the higher rate debt in full)

But what I found to be one of the best excerpts from the story was:

Just ask Victoria Ramirez. The San Jose elementary school teacher once had as much as $45,000 in debt on six different cards.

Now she and her husband have whittled that down to a balance of about $10,000 on a single card.

Ramirez, 37, said card issuers make it all too easy to get into trouble.

“They loan you a big amount of money that you can’t take care of,” she said.

This isn’t so different from what’s happening in the housing market. One reason so many people are in danger of losing their homes right now is because banks handed out high-risk loans to folks who had no business getting deep into debt.

To be sure, many such loan recipients deserve a share of the blame for being so reckless with their personal finances. But they wouldn’t have gotten into trouble without the willing complicity of lenders, which encouraged virtually all home buyers to take the plunge, regardless of their ability to repay loans.

While I agree with that – I’m most impressed by her debt reduction. They don’t say how she did it or what the time frame was, but debt reduction is debt reduction and I can’t wait to join the club.

Also, I just want to call out that I don’t think that the debt crisis is the credit companies fault. And I don’t think that they are to blame for my situation either. I think we should all be responsible. But drug dealers that don’t do drugs still go to jail, know what I mean? Sure people have to be responsible for their actions, but they should not be enabled to ruin their lives.