Getting into debt is easy. Too easy. Getting out of debt, now that’s a totally different story. Becoming debt free takes a lot of thought, sacrifices, smart choices and money. Fortunately, helpful tips and advice on this subject is plentiful and easy to find. There are dozens of books, websites, articles and even television shows that offers debt solutions and it is right at our fingertips. In fact, much of the advice and strategies that is available is free for the taking. How great is that?
Make A Budget
Before you even begin making a budget, prepare yourself for the challenges and sacrifices that will be involved in the very beginning. Sitting down and actually making a budget isn’t that hard to do. Now, sticking to the budget, well that takes a lot of self restraint and there are times when it can be really, really tough to stay within the budget. We just have to face the facts, being on a budget is no fun, however, being in debt isn’t great either.
Now, making a budget will put all of your finances into perspective. Make a budget that is practical and be certain that you have taken the time to account for all bills and expenses. And guess what? There are many free printable budget sheets, free software to download and other free items that will help you make your budget accurate and virtually pain free.
Say Good Bye To Those Credit Cards
Those little plastic cards that you have carrying around, are not your friends and they never were your friends. You can no longer use them unless it is an absolute emergency and you have no other option and I mean NO other option.
Paying off credit cars, if you don’t use them, really isn’t all that difficult. First, you pick the credit card with the lowest amount owed and you concentrate on that one card. Once you begin with that one card, you can no longer make the minimum payment. It would be great if you could double the minimum payment each month. If this is possible but only if you make the minimum payments on everything else for a while, then so be it. Remember, you are concentrating on paying off one bill at a time.
Here is an example of how much better it will be if you could double the minimum payment. Say you have a card with $10,000.00 charged to it. The minimum payment is $180.00 a month and the interest is 16 . It will take you 102 months to pay that one card off. However, if you double it and pay $360.00 a month, it will be paid off in 35 months.
Once, you have finally paid off your first bill. You will then add that money to the next bill. This way, you will pay off the second bill much faster than you paid off the first. This “snowball” effect will continue until all debt is paid. The only way, I would recommend stopping this snowball effect, would be after I have paid off two to three bills in full, then I would save or invest a portion of the money saved.
Debt Free, Is It Possible?
Being debt free is possible and it is something that we all want and need. Stop living in debt and stop feeling helpless. We can all be debt free once we put our minds to it and truly stick with it. Good luck!
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