If you’re ready to get out of debt and willing to create a video about it, you could win $1,000 or other prizes from the folks at LendingClub and PerkStreet Financial. Submit a video of you shredding your credit card to qualify for the chance of winning a $1,000 grand prize in the form of a Visa gift card. Every week, the contest organizers are selecting additional winners of a $50 Visa gift card every Wednesday through the end of January. Two Visa gift cards totaling $600 will be provided to the winners of the “Most Creative Shred” award.
The awards don’t end there. Here is where this gets interesting for Consumerism Commentary readers, specifically. All Consumerism Commentary readers who submit a video will be eligible for an additional prize of between $125 and $300. If you do create a video of your shredding and submit it to the content, let me know as soon as possible so I can consider your submission for this exclusive award.
How to enter the contest
- Cancel a credit card. I mentioned this morning that even credit cards with rewards programs can hurt your bottom line. Even those who use credit cards as a tool to track expenses and earn rewards could be doing more harm than good to their finances. Regardless of the rewards, if you carry a balance unnecessarily, just get rid of the card.
- Record a video. Be creative! Show an interesting method of destroying your card, write a skit to be performed by you and your friends, or sit down in front of the camera and tell your story. Be careful not to show your credit card number in the video!
- Submit your video. Visit ShredYourCreditCard.com to share your creative project with the world. When you register for the submission, make sure you let them know you heard about the content from Consumerism Commentary! This way, I’ll be able to vote for your submission.
- Vote for your video and encourage others. This is partially a popularity contest, so make sure you vote for your submission every day. Get the word out to your friends — and to me — so you accumulate more votes.
Check ShredYourCreditCard.com every Wednesday to see if you’ve won a weekly prize. The $1,000 grand prize and $600 “Most Creative Shred” award will be announced on December 31.
About the sponsors
PerkStreet Financial offers the premier cash back debit card in the nation. With the PerkStreet Financial Visa® Debit Card, you spend the money you have on the things you want and earn rich rewards in the process. It’s like a debt-free card that earns like a credit card. The average American family could earn hundreds of dollars per year just by switching to PerkStreet. That’s because PerkStreet offers up to 2% cash back all the time, with monthly bonuses up to 5%. PerkStreet’s banking services are provided by The Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC.
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.
Shred Your Credit Card in the news
Here’s a clip from a local news program about this contest.
Updated June 16, 2011 and originally published January 17, 2011. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
Rank: Platinum
Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, this is great! If I had some credit cards I would definitely do this!
I don’t have any credit cards to do this but I will be passing it along to some friends and family!
Hey there,
My name is Jenna and I am helping run the contest through PerkStreet Financial. I saw your comment and wanted to let you know that we are accepting all kinds of videos, not just ones with credit cards being shred. For example, you can send a video telling us about your journey towards getting out of debt, or cutting up a mail solicitation of a credit card application. Feel free to get creative!
It’s a great chance to win a ton of money and join a community of people that are on different points in their journey towards a debt-free life.
Let me know if you end up submitting a video so I can check it out personally. You can email me at: jenna.walker at perkstreet.com.
Good luck!
Jenna Walker
PerkStreet Financial
This is an awesome contest! Not only can people feel some financial liberation & freedom in destroying their debt maker, the can win money for doing it!
I could never shred my credit cards, we pay them off in full each month, they are no fee, and my cash rewards pays for my Christmas shopping each year. However for those folks deep in debt, there should be more incentives such as this!
I paid off 2 credit cards and cut those cards but I didn’t record it. Oh well.
What a great contect idea. I can’t wait to see the winning videos.