Lower your debt fast. Nine easy ways.
Most Americans are living above their means which causes them to face financial disasters later on. While getting out of debt doesn’t’ happen overnight (unless you win the lottery),
there are 9 ways to lower your debt quickly.
1. Call your creditors and negotiate with them. Many people don’t call their credit card companies simply because they don’t know that they can. Interest rates are negotiable and many credit card companies will agree to lower your rate because they don’t want to lose you as a customer.
2. Give up bad habits. Smoking, drinking excessive alcoholic beverages and overeating is not only going to get you deeper in debt, but will also cause medical problems. Being sick is not cheap in America, so do yourself a favor and give up those habits now.
3. Drop you car. While this might be inconvenient and not everybody is able to do it, you should seriously consider using public transportation or find other ways to commute. If you live in a larger city, a car is usually a luxury and not a necessity. Selling your car might not be an emotionally easy task, but think of how much money you can save on maintenance, insurance, gas and car payments.
4. If you situation allows, find cheaper housing or consider finding a roommate. Prices of housing vary dramatically and you may able to save a ton of money by temporarily moving to a cheaper place. Just make sure the cost of moving is not going to exceed your savings.
5. Pay cash for everything. I like the idea of cutting up your credit cards so you are not tempted to use them. Studies show that people tend to overspend when they are using their credit cards and they rarely overspend when they use cash. Psychologically, paying with cash is harder, because it gives you a better idea of what you are actually spending. Credit cards are often treated like magic cards, and for some reason people totally forget that unless they pay their balance in full, paying with a credit card makes their purchase much more expensive.
6. Cut your spending. Stop going out to eat, skip Starbucks for lunch, learn how to cook, lower your thermostat a couple degrees.
7. Write down every purchase you make. This way it will be easier for you to track your finances and you also may think twice before making another purchase.
8. Don’t spend what you don’t have. If you don’t have money to buy a new TV set, then don’t. Even if it is on sale and your old TV really sucks. If you really want a new TV, make sure you earn the money to buy it first.
9. Pay at least twice the minimum due on your credit cards. Making minimum payments is not going to get you out of debt any time soon, because you will end up paying more money in interest. Try to pay as much extra money as you can every month. If you have $10,000 credit on your card, depending on the interest rate it can take you up to 25 years to pay it off, even if you don’t charge another single dollar.
