How To Pay Off Debt

How the hell do I manage all this debt? I remember the desperation I felt when I finally realised I was in trouble. It certainly crept up on me, and I might have been oblivious to the fact, but I remember the day when it dawned on me – I was a slave to the financiers that I was so diligently paying back an amount each and every month. The days of easy credit have certainly been good to me, but it finally caught up with me a few years ago, and I knew I had to make some tough choices in my life.

So I set on a course of action that will ultimately see me get rid of the debt – I am not quite there yet, but I am well on the way. I have got a few key pointers that I would like to share and hopefully you can benefit from the knowledge I have gained and you can fast-track your journey and learn how to pay off debt and live without that monkey on your back.

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First thing I did was recognise that consumerism was killing me. Metaphorically, that is. I was never a big spender or profligate spender, but I liked the regular bottle of red wine, I wouldn’t blink at having the updated techno toy, and my wife always liked the best brands. So my disposition was oriented towards accumulating, rather than sensible acquiring things I need, and more importantly, could afford. Once I realised that my head was wrong I had to recognise that I needed to make a change. I could not keep going on, the way I was – 4 credit cards not quite maxed, but about $25,000 in credit card debt, and some small home improvement expenses (a personal loan), I had no prospect of paying out the debts quickly.
Accepting that I needed to change I also realised I needed to get some help. I knew I needed help, and delayed contacting someone for over 6 months, trying to do the impossible all by myself. I was getting quite desperate so I contacted this provider and got things rolling immediately. I needed to get things moving quickly. That was when things started to turn around. I still had to work a second job for about three years – I just recently gave that up, as the progress has started to really kick in – working 7 days a week, at my age, is no fun I tell you.

We had to get some agreement in the house. So my wife and I decided on what our priorities were. Our grown up sons were leaving home at the time, so some of the expenses were going down. We made a budget. This is still something that I struggle with, but I figure better to have a budget and miss the mark than have no budget at all. We started off with the “debt snowball” approach popularised by Dave Ramsay. This is definitely the way to go, but I really needed the help of Debt Consolidation Care to really get things moving. And back under control. It took a bit of time and paper chasing, but only having one debt is better than multiple debts.
Some of the key lessons I learned were:

* You need to recognise there is a problem,
* You need to spend less than you earn and
* You need professional help if you can’t do it on your own.

Here is what I did – and what you need to do:
1. Reject consumerism – find happiness in what you have – not what think you want.
2. Work out what you are spending your money on. Prepare a budget. Find a way to reduce spending to below your earnings.
3. Recognise that you need to make change. Made sure your family are working together.
4. Do a stocktake – be real and honest about all your debts
5. If you need help, get it early, not after a year or two of wasted or failed attempts.
6. Use the Debt Snowball approach – Pay the minimum off all of your outstanding debts. Start with the smallest balance and pay an extra $50 a week or what ever you can afford off the smallest