Being in debt is hard as it is, and it’s not an easy process in eliminating debt. Debt is stressful, worrisome, frustrating and your worst enemy. It takes a toll on you mentally, emotionally and physically too. It feels like you are carrying around this heavy load everywhere you go. For those, carrying heavier debt loads, where you are spending most of your current income towards debt repayment, you may just be treading water and the debt spiral waiting around the corner to suck you in. Easiest way to any debt repayment process, is finding new ways to bring in extra cash, to put towards your debt repayment. The more extra cash you earn and apply towards your debt, the faster the debt disappears.
There are many different ways to finding extra cash, which you can than apply directly towards your debt repayment. First and simplest way is to analyze your spending habits. Look at your credit card statements & account statements. There you will analyze where you spend most of your money. Are you eating out a lot? Clothes shopping? Buying new accessories? Whatever your spending habits, most need to be cut down significantly and others need to be eliminated totally. Eat more at home, use coupons, shop at second hand stores and buy store brands, as opposed to buying name brands. Analyze your weekly grocery flyer’s, compare and find the best deals.
Second way to finding extra money, is to look what things you can totally eliminate forever or temporarily or possibly even find cheaper alternatives. Can you reduce your cable bill? Eliminate all those unecesary channels you never watch or possibly cancel cable all together and buy a portable antenna, where you will still get the basic cable at no cost. Also, look at your cell phone bill. Call your provider and see if you can decrease your bill or maybe switch to a different provider all together. You can still move your existing phone number, over to the new provider at no extra cost.
Third way to finding extra money, is actually going out to earn more. The first alternative would be talking to your boss directly about getting a raise. Build a raise negotiation layout, list all the new tasks you’ve taken on, tasks that you excel in and provide all values on why you are a valuable asset to the company and what you bring to the table. Second alternative may actually be going out and getting a second job. There are tons of alternatives to weekend or part time jobs. Delivering pizza, retail, working at a coffee shop or even evening office cleaning are all good options for secondary income. If you earn $10 hourly part time, at 20 hours a week, that’s an extra $200 a week, before taxes, for a total of $800 monthly, before taxes, which you can apply directly towards your debt repayment.
Paying off debt is never an easy task. It’s a process, that typically takes years and does not happen overnight. Doing some of the above things and even possibly selling your extra clothing or valuable via craigslist or kijiji are all good starting points. You can simplify your debt repyament, by finding ways that work for you.
I agree! Debt should ideally be paid as soon as you have cash but sometimes our payroll only covers our basic and current needs. But there are many ways to earn extra cash and you should try and explore that because if the debt won’t just sit in there. It will grow babies – interest and you would not want to deal with that. Credit companies and banks thrive in interest but of course they would want you to payback eventually. Give what is due plus interest and not just the minimum.
your article is just the one any person in debt will look for, there are several people who are shell shocked by their debt trap and do not have the sense to take your recommended steps even though they know about it and can use it to get their life going. May this article reach the needy.