If you’re like many Americans, one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2011 is to get out of debt and stop using those darn credit cards.
So how is it working out for you so far? Are you able to follow through on your promise?
A great way to get some extra help in ridding yourself of consumer debt is to cut up your credit cards and shred them up – literally. If you don’t physically have the card, you’re obviously not going to be able to use it.
Two great companies, PerkStreet Financial and Lending Club, have partnered up to host an awesome contest called Shred Your Credit Card. How does it work? Basically, they’re asking you to come up with a creative way to shred your credit card, whether it be blowing it up, lighting it on fire, dropping it off the Grand Canyon, or feeding it to piranhas – you get the idea. You just need to film yourself doing it and you could win over $1,000 if your entry is selected. The submission deadline is Friday, January 28, 2011 so make sure you take a look soon!
Below are some more details on the contest and how it works:
How to Participate
- Cancel a credit card. Or even better, cancel all of your credit cards.
- Film yourself talking about why you’re done with debt this year and record the most creative way you can think of to destroy your card. Just make sure that you hide your actual credit card number in the video. Alternatively, you can record yourself talking about your debt-free journey or cutting up a credit card solicitation you received in the mail. Pretty much anything to do with reducing debt works – just be creative!
- Submit your video to ShredYourCreditCard.com – deadline is Jan 28, 2011. Select Money Crashers as the site that referred you in the “How did you hear about this contest?” field. We’ll select 5 of the top Money Crashers submissions for a $20 Amazon gift card.
- Vote for yourself daily and encourage others to do the same on Facebook and Twitter, or via email.
- Check ShredYourCreditCard.com every Wednesday through the end of January to see if you’ve won a weekly prize.
- Visit ShredYourCreditCard.com on Shred Your Credit Card Day (Jan 31) to see if you’ve won the GRAND PRIZE ($1,000) or any of the Second Place prizes ($300 each).
Prizes
- $1,000 grand prize on Jan 31, 2011 for the video that gets the most public votes overall.
- 2 $300 second prizes on Jan 31, 2011 for the most creative video submissions – selected by PerkStreet Financial and Lending Club.
- $50 prize every week until Jan 31, 2011 for the top vote-getter of the week.
- 5 $20 Amazon Gift Certificates to the top video submissions by Money Crashers readers (make sure you select Money Crashers as the site that referred you). Also, paste a link to your video in the comments section on this post.
Contest Sponsors
PerkStreet Financial
Earn 2% cash back on all non-PIN purchases with the PerkStreet Financial(SM) Visa(R) Debit Card. This amounts to over $600 every year for the average American family. PerkStreet isn’t just another bank account; it’s a way to improve your financial life. Take your cash back and save for your future, pay down your debt faster, give back to others, or just have some fun. The PerkStreet checking account is fully FDIC insured and there’s no annual fee or cap on 2% earning.
Lending Club
Lending Club is the leading platform for investing in and obtaining personal loans. Using the power of the Internet to remove the cost and complexities that exist in traditional bank lending, Lending Club connects creditworthy borrowers and investors so both benefit financially. Lending Club’s no-hassle, fixed-rate personal loans start at 6.78% – nearly half the average starting APR offered on credit cards.
Are you ready to shred your credit card? Let’s see what you’ve got! Be sure to add a link to your submission in the comments section below.
(photo credit: Shutterstock)
