At least mine wasn’t. Good morning Loves. It’s a New Year and that means we’re all checking our credit card statements and bank accounts to see just how much of an impact the holidays had on our finances. Did you know that money resolutions are the third most common goal people set in the New Year, right after getting healthy and organizing their life. Yes it’s true.
My friend Jackie at The Debt Myth is starting a crusade to help people realize debt doesn’t have to be forever. When she told me about the idea I was immediately on board because 1. I really like Jackie and 2. I survived my debt so I want to let people know they can too.
Personal confession: My debt is not forever because I want to use my money to travel more, especially to New York City.
When you’re in debt it seems like you’ll be in debt forever, trust me there were a lot of tears. If you’re in debt or you’ve ever been in debt you know this is true. When you have credit card or loan debt it seems like the statements are infinite and there’s just no light at the end of the tunnel. But that’s just not true.
Do you want to be debt free this year or at least start on the path to becoming debt free? This is how you can do it. How do I know? Because this is how I did it.
3 ways to get out of debt this year:
Start making payments. I know this sounds simple but it’s true. Complaining and crying about debt doesn’t make it go away. Cut some expenses (yes you can live without cable for a year and Netflix is cheaper) and put that money towards paying off your debt. Set up automatic payments to coincide with your paycheck and always pay more than the minimum payments.
Get a second job. Yes you will have less time to sleep and you will have less time with your friends but you’ll save hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars on interest costs. Find a part time job or start a side hustle and use all the income from your second job towards your debt. It’s that easy. When you get too tired or fed up just keep telling yourself it’s a temporary situation.
Stop spending. The definition of crazy is repeating the same behaviour expecting a different outcome. That was me 7 years ago – I was totally cray-cray! I set up automatic payments onto my three credit cards and I got a part time job working at Victoria’s Secret but my debt wasn’t going down. Why? Because I was still spending. After about six months of torturing myself I realized that my money mentality and spending habits had to change along with my behavior. I quit spending money on anything that wasn’t necessary to live and it sucked, but it helped me become debt free.
The feeling of being debt free is like no other – it’s the ultimate high of satisfaction and accomplishment. I still cried but this time they were tears of happiness not defeat. Are you in debt? If so I’d love to hear how you’re getting out of it. Always remember #debtisnotforever
If you’re debt free how did you feel on the day you made your last payment?
Photo from Flickr
March 2012. We were ready to go to NYC for 6 month (third year in a row – an opportunity I almost missed because of my debt). Final payment was made for the car, then I waited for the paperwork to get to me and then change the car on my name (the contract was owned by the bank and now I was the owner). 2 days before we left everything was solved, my car was MINE after 4 years and I was finally free. Never looked back 🙂