Getting yourself out of debt is much harder than getting yourself into debt. It could be your own doing – spending more than you’re making. It could be that life threw you a curve ball and you had a lot of unexpected expenses come up. Whatever the reason, there is one key factor in getting yourself out of debt.
Self-Control
That little hyphenated word packs so much punch! And no one wants to hear it. After all, we want what we want when we want it. And we want it now!
But we are adults. We have learned self-control (or we should have learned self-control). Children are supposed to be the ones that grab for every toy they see. Not us adults. Right?
Learning self-control is the key to squashing your debt.
How Do We Learn Self-Control?
First, I will say that if you have very little, it will be very difficult. But it can be accomplished!
Set Goals To Squash Debt
Set goals for yourself. And don’t just say, “I want to be debt-free.”. Be very specific. When do you want to be debt-free? Say a date.
Now that you have a date in mind, how will you get there. What small goals can you sprinkle between now and your end date? When you reach those goals, how will you reward yourself? You want to keep that motivation going! Try to make the rewards free.
Create Spend Plan To Squash Debt
Print up your most recent month or two of bank statements. Bank statements don’t lie. They will tell you exactly where your money is going. If you want to make any sort of realistic budget or spend plan, you need to know where your money has been going. If you have been spending $500 a month eating out and suddenly say you want to cut that to $50, that may not be feasible or realistic. You need to create something that you can stick with and that works for you. Now, that being said, your motivation for getting out of debt may be extremely high. Only spending 10% of what you were spending on eating out may be feasible for you. You just freed up $450 every month to put toward squashing your debt!
The Most Painless Way to “Find” Money
I have found out the secret! Subscriptions. Yes, subscriptions. Comb through your bank statements with a fine tooth comb. What subscriptions are you still paying for that you are no longer using? I’ve had people save hundreds of dollars every month just by doing this! You’re not even using the service anymore, so you won’t miss it. There’s the secret, folks!
What Are Your Triggers?
Can they be avoided? If walking by a shoe store makes you want to run in and buy a few pairs, what can you do to avoid shoe stores? If going to the grocery store hungry makes your shopping bill double, can you eat before going to the store? Making a shopping list and sticking with it also helps prevent aimless wandering (which leads to buying more stuff).
A Free Resource
If you are not familiar with powerpay.org, I highly suggest that you look into this free resource. You input your debt information (type of debt, balance owed, interest rate, etc), and the site gives you a spreadsheet with a timeline of how much to pay each lender. Some people like to print it out and stick it on their fridge. Their motivation is checking off the months as they pay and watching themselves become more and more debt-free! You can even choose if you would like to follow the debt snowball or the debt avalanche method. If you are not familiar with these methods, please read my blog post here.
You can do it! Yes, it may suck for a while. In fact, it probably will. But it is something that CAN be overcome. Get some self-control, say no to some things, avoid your triggers, and create that plan. You got this!
