Too many people have too much debt right now. The average person has multiple credit cards that they don’t know how to properly use, they have astronomical amounts of credit card debt that seems to be out-of-control, they have student loans with terms that they don’t fully understand, and they might even be living car and/or house poor.
If you are looking to eliminate your debt and not be like everyone else, then keep on reading. There is no need to be buried up to your eyeballs in debt. Start living a debt free life today!
Evaluate what you really need.
Recently, I had someone complain to me about their money problems, yet they also bought all of their children brand new iPads. I try not to judge people with their money choices, but if you are directly telling me that you have money problems yet you spend thousands of dollars on things that you absolutely do not need, then I am going to tell you what’s wrong with your situation.
You need to sit down and evaluate what you really need. If you are not saving money and you have debt, then you need to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses or claiming that you deserve things.
In reality, your debt needs to be paid off, you need to start saving, and you need to get your financial future in order!
Cut your budget.
If you have debt, then you should try to cut something out of your budget. Most people have something that can be eliminated, you may just have to dig deep to find it.
Sit down, go through your budget, and really start to track where your money is going at least once a month. I’m sure you will find some money pit that can be fixed.
Work towards making extra money.
If there is nothing for you to cut out of your budget, then you may want to look towards making extra money. If you have just a few spare hours each day or week, then there might be something out there for you to do.
You could get a part-time job, a full-time job, sell items online, have a garage sale, freelance for others, and more. There are so many things that you can do to make extra money, and then you can put as much of this extra money as you can towards paying off your debt quickly.
Negotiate your debt.
Now, I understand that some people just cannot avoid debt. One specific situation would be if you have medical debt. If you live in the United States, then you or someone you know may be buried deep into medical debt. I have friends and family who always seem to have medical problems, but there are ways to try to curb this if you can. It doesn’t seem fair to have medical problems as well as debt. I don’t think this is something that all healthy people can understand.
One thing that I think people with medical debt should know is that there is probably a very big change that you can negotiate your debt. It may not completely save you, but you may be able to cut your debt by a large amount. I personally know someone who negotiated a medical debt of theirs from $10,000 to around $2,500. It was shocking just how easy it was for this person to negotiate as well. It never hurts to try to ask!
This can also apply to credit card debt in some situations.
Are you trying to eliminate your debt? Why or why not?
Image via Flickr by Lendingmemo.com
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