Tips to Be Debt Free, Part 2

This post is a continuation from the one that began yesterday.

2) Make a very detailed budget for all your monthly expenses. Be sure to have enough so you are able to make at least the minimum payments on all of your debt.

3) From the lists above pick the smallest debt as your target. Pay as much towards this debt as you can without cutting payments on your other debts.

Once you manage to pay off this debt completely, take that money and apply it to the next smallest debt. Keep doing this again and again until your debt is all paid off. Doing this will allow you to pay off all your debt, even if you can’t get extra money coming in.

This method works, it just takes discipline. You’ll have to make sacrifices if you want to be debt free. That means making a reasonable budget and sticking to it.

But if you stay disciplined, and keep at it, you will eventually find yourself out of debt, which will bring you peace of mind and will make all the sacrifices seem worthwhile.

Yours in working to keep debt free,

P.S. You can read more tips on debt consolidation and keeping debt free here

Tips to Be Debt Free, Part 1

It seems like Debt is something many of us, including those all around the world, struggle with.

As a result, we often want to know how to be debt free.

Nowadays, you can’t afford to just buy things will nilly, and sometimes you may have to use a credit card or get a loan. But if the unexpected happens and you’re not able to pay back those debts, you can find yourself in an out of control, downward spiral.

Many’s the time you might find yourself in more debt than you can handle because of an unexpected illness, or time away from work or even an unexpected household repair or a water heater than just expired two seconds before you were to take your shower.

Such calamities might require you to use your credit card and as a result put you in a position with more debt than you can reasonably handle.

There are many options available to you such as debt counseling services, debt consolidation and even bankruptcy. But before you do anything that drastic, take some time to try to fix your debt situation on your own.

It is possible, even without adding income, to pay off your debt.

It will take time, though, and it will take discipline but if you are committed to living a life without any debt you can do it.

Now, and tomorrow, I’ll discuss some tips to help you become debt free.

Here are a few tips to help you get rid of

1) Make yourself a detailed list of all your debt. Add everything; even the smallest of debts should be added to this list. Your list should include your monthly household bills (such as house payments, insurance, utility bills, etc etc etc) in one column and your debt in another column.

Come back tomorrow to pick up the remaining two tips. In the meantime, you can start making your list now, as mentioned above.

Yours in working to keep debt free,

P.S. You can read more tips on debt consolidation and keeping debt free here

Tips To Help Reduce Your Debt

Reducing your debt probably isn’t your most favorite thought, but with the times as they are now, it’s important that you pay closer attention to where your money goes.

So, I’ve located a series of tips for reducing debt that might be of interest…and I’m adding them here. Tomorrow, I’ll post a few more.

As debt continues to increase in many households across America, more families each year are finding themselves looking for ways to reduce their overall household debt.

For some, this may be easier said than done. Debt reduction requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Especially when you are used to spending money left and right.

Those that are serious and committed to reducing their debt will eventually reap the rewards of being debt free. Reading the following simple tips (today and tomorrow) will give you many ideas on how you can reduce your debt.

Cut back
When you start to cut back on spending, you will find corners that you can cut throughout the month to help you pay off your debts. Simple things, such as:

a) Being aware of all of the electricity you use, and
b) Turning off lights that are not needed as you leave a room

will help reduce your light bill. Therefore, you save a little more money to reduce your debt with. Once you become aware of your spending habits, and start cutting back, you will start to notice more ways to cut back each month.

Budget
Budget your income. List all of your monthly bills and their due dates.

Apply them to your budget, as well as other household needs, for example, groceries, gas etc.

Allow yourself only so much money per month to spend on extras. Sticking to your budget will show self-control, and determination for reducing your debt.

Limit the use of your Credit cards
If you cannot pay cash for it, then do not buy it. If you have to charge something, make sure you can pay the balance in full when your next credit card bill comes in.

Never charge on your credit card to only pay the minimum monthly amount.

You will never get that maxed out credit card paid off that way. The importance of paying your credit card balance in full, cannot be stressed enough.

Stop back tomorrow; I’ll have a few more tips to help you reduce your debt.

Yours in figuring it all out,

P.S. In the meantime, you might want to swing over to my blog, As Long As You’re Here to read tips about Internet Marketing. Or perhaps a brief swing to Lynn Terry’s “Self-Starters Weekly Tips” membership site will interest you.

2 Tips How to Be Debt Free

I hope yesterday’s tips on learning to be debt free provided you with some suggestions on how to reach your goal.

Consolidate your debts as much as possible.

You can accomplish this a number of ways. One possibility is to simply transfer balances from one credit card to another with a lower rate, but be aware of transfer fees before choosing this option.

Or, if you own your own home, take out a home-equity loan or line of credit, which should have a lower interest rate than most credit cards can offer as well as offering tax deductions. You can also consider a secured loan offering the value in another form of property, your vehicle for example.

Don’t sacrifice your retirement savings.

Obviously paying off your debt should be a high financial priority but cutting what you save for retirement to do so may not be the wisest course, especially if that becomes a long term habit or if you are losing out on your employer’s matching funds as a result.

Perhaps you may be able to borrow against (or from) your retirement funds at a lower interest rate which will allow you to continue to save for retirement while also getting out from under your debt.

While owing money may well be the American way it can also be a tremendous burden to bear. You can shed the weight of your load or at least trim it down to a more manageable level by taking these four steps.

And there’s more good news!

If you missed yesterday’s tips and don’t have time to look back through the pages, here’s a link to another resource for you on debt negotiation.

Yours in freeing debt

More Tips to Reduce Debt

Well, I just had a rude awakening

I readied this blog post for automatic publication yesterday. In fact, if you had been following our thoughts since July 22, and had come here to read the “end” of the tips, you would have seen that they were missing.

Alas!

Unfortunately, these tips were still in “draft” status because inadvertently I did not set this post to “publish”!

So, better late than never…here are some thoughts on “More Tips to Reduce Debt”

Get rid of your credit cards

If you are determined to reduce your debt, cutting up your credit cards will help. Because, if you do not have them you can not use them! If this is too big of a step for you (as in too, traumatic), at least get rid of the most unnecessary ones.

If you can swing it, it’s really a good idea to keep only one or two, low interest rate cards for emergencies only!

And consider that if you can not pay cash for something, then you probably do not need it.

Pay off your debts

If you have already acquired some debt you need to pay off, now is the time to get started. Decide which debt is your smallest and start with that one. Pay on it as your budget will allow.

Once you have your smallest debt paid off, you will have a feeling of satisfaction and know you can pay off your debts. Then move to the next smallest debt. It is much easier to paying your debts off one by one, and you will feel less overwhelmed.

And before you know it, all of your debts will be paid and you will feel great knowing you paid them off.

Debt consolidation

Debt consolidation is another option to consider for reducing your debt. Debt consolidation companies will call your creditors for you, and make payment arrangements for your debts. Many companies will get you one low monthly payment to pay each month, until all of your debt is paid off.

Financial counseling

Make an appointment with a financial counselor to help you reduce your debt. Some people find having someone else point out the errors in their spending habits helps them tremendously. Financial counselors can also show you how to better manage your money, and stick to a budget.

Yours in change,

Reduce Your Debt with Today’s Three Tips

Are you stuck with debt?

In recent months, “debt”, “debt consolidation”, “debt reduction” and the like are first and foremost quite often on our minds. So, here’s news! Today and tomorrow, we’re sharing some tips for you to consider to help you make decisions about reducing your debt.

As debt continues to increase in many households across America, more families each year are looking for ways to reduce their overall household debt.

For some, this may be easier said than done.

Debt reduction requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Especially when you are used to spending money left and right.

Those that are serious and committed to reducing their debt will eventually reap the rewards of being debt free.

And by reading my simple tips today and tomorrow it is my hope you will discover many ideas, about how you can reduce your debt.

Cut back

When you start to cut back on spending, you will find other corners you can cut throughout the month that will help you pay off your debts. Simple things such as, being aware of all of the electricity you use–and turning off lights that are not needed as you leave a room, will help reduce your light bill. Therefore, you save a little more money with which to reduce your debt.

Once you become aware of your spending habits, and pay attention to them, you’ll start cutting back and begin to notice more ways to cut back each month.

Budget Your Income

List all of your monthly bills and their due dates. Apply them to your budget, as well as to your other household needs; for example, groceries, gas etc. Allow yourself only so much money per month to spend on extras.

Sticking to your budget will show self-control, and your determination to reduce your debt.

Limit the use of your Credit cards

If you cannot pay cash for it, then do not buy it.

And if you have to charge something, make sure you can pay the balance in full when your next credit card bill comes in.

Never put a charge on your credit card to only pay the minimum monthly amount. You will never get that maxed out credit card paid off that way.

The importance of paying your credit card balance in full, cannot be stressed enough.

Of course, there are many other tips to help reduce your debt. We have four more we’ll share with you “tomorrow.”

See you then!

Note: But “tomorrow” never came! I just stopped back in here now and learned this post never got out of draft status.

So, I’m activating it now.

Best regards,