What does it take to get out of debt?

Jun.26, 2008 in Get out of debt books

Hello-

Do you know what you have to do to get out of debt?

You probably already know the answers, save more, spend less.

Easier said than done when there’s all these new gadgets that come out every other week or so. It’s hard to save money when you see a hot new car that you just have to have.

It’s hard to stop charging on your credit card when there’s a new season of Lost or The Office released on DVD this Tuesday.

The first thing you have to do when you want to get out of debt is resolve not to spend any more money that you don’t have.

That’s what so nice about credit cards - you get to buy and enjoy stuff with money that isn’t yours. You get to spend other people’s money - the credit card companies.

And then 20-25 days later they want some of that money back with a courtesy fee of course - interest.

I was browsing around Yahoo and found these tips to help you reduce your debts:

“Stop spending and start paying. Sell your stuff, get a job (or a second job), get a roommate, sell your car and use public transportation, spend the absolute minimum on food, no new clothes, no new anything - shop at a thrift store if you absolutely must have something”

Keep this in mind, you are never going to pay off your debts if you do not stop spending money.

Make it a test for yourself and challenge yourself to not spending money on things you don’t need for a week. Then go 2 weeks then go one month. If you can do this then you’ll be off to a good start.

You need to think about things a little differently. You need to consider what you are preventing youself from doing by being in so much debt.

It’s hard to travel the world if you have a mountain of debt to pay off.

It’s hard to do volunteer work for your favorite cause if you have debt collectors calling you asking for money.

There are hundreds of things you are prevented from doing because you have so much credit card debt it makes you lose sleep at night.