Effective Debt Reduction
Maybe it
was while you were in college, and you were obsessed with
getting good grades. You attended every class, and you took
copious notes. You read ahead in the syllabus and focused on
your assignments with feverish intensity. You started studying
early in the semester so you weren't caught short at finals or
mid-terms. Your friends and family knew better than to expect
you to slack off and hang out with them when there was
schoolwork to be done.
Maybe it
was a car you were excited about. You looked up pictures of it
on the Internet and read reviews relating to it. You read the
owners' club pages and rubbernecked every time you saw a car
like it drive by. You sacrificed, saved, and put away all the
money you needed to buy your dream car. And then came the proud
day when you owned that car, and it was yours.
Debt
reduction will take that same kind of commitment if you want to
see results that last a lifetime. You should be thinking 24/7
about how you can reduce your debt.
At
lunchtime, when your co-workers spend $5 to $10 or more on
sandwiches, salads, and burritos, take your homemade sandwich or
salad out of your brown lunch bag and congratulate yourself on
reducing your debt by $50 per week – that is a whopping $2,600
per year of debt reduction!
At
night, eat dinner and dessert at home. This will save $20 to $50
every time you eat at home instead of going out. The saving add
up quickly.
Keep a
notebook or journal of your daily achievements towards debt
reduction. Write down every cent you save, so you will know that
your minor efforts have been worthwhile. At the end of every
week, add up your savings and write a check for the amount you
have saved. Use that money to achieve your goal of debt
reduction by applying that sum to your highest interest credit
card.
Getting Professional Help
There are
nonprofit debt consolidation
firms that can provide excellent coaching and resources to help
with the process. If you are currently in debt over your head,
you may want to consider professional
debt management,
or
debt help for women
if you are female.
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