Are you on the getting out of debt journey? Are you wondering how to get out of debt?
Getting out of debt is one of the main reasons many personal finance bloggers do what they do. The road to debt repayment is covered extensively on Debt Free Adventure and Man vs Debt. Simply put, paying off debt is a topic that brings many people together.
The other day after my intense work out I came home to drink a protein shake. A few hours went by and caved to temptation. I had a bag of Doritos. I know that there is no justification for eating such junk, especially when you are aware of the negative affects of such food. With that being said I am fairly content knowing that I’m conscious of what I eat, despite having many flaws in my diet.
Every day that goes on I’m financially tempted to blow money on something. Often I do cave in and find myself buying stuff I really shouldn’t buy. Once again I’m content knowing that despite the many flaws in my financial system, I am still on the right track.
What is the point of all of this?
How does this all tie in?
I wanted to to discuss the road to debt repayment and the process of getting out of debt in general.
Are you on the road to debt repayment?
What do I exactly mean by this?
There are many ways to get out of debt and unfortunately all of them involve hard work and sacrifice.
Your debt is decreasing. You are using a debt elimination method that is perfect for you. You have consolidated your student loans. You are starting to notice results. Every month your debt is lower and lower. You still have debt but you realize that it will be eliminated in the near future. With a few holes here and there, you are fairly aggressive towards paying off your debt.
You’re slowly starting to consciously spend. You are at the point now where you plan most of your major purchases ahead of time. You won’t do any research before buying a sandwich but you will definitely check all sources when looking into a new cell phone. You know where your money goes a majority of the time and you are proud to have come this far.
You’re better with your money but admittedly you still do splurge on occasion. The road to paying off your debt isn’t a smooth one at all. There will be plenty of curves, bumps, and possible accidents. Once in a while you will cave to all temptation and purchase something you didn’t plan for it. Don’t let this discourage you or bring you down. You are still on the journey to get out debt. You are only human and mistakes will happen while trying to get out debt.
Getting out of debt fast is perfect but… It won’t always work out as planned. Everyone reading this would love to get out of debt now but unless you get rich quick, it doesn’t look likely to happen. If you currently find yourself getting out of debt slowly, please don’t fret. You’re not the only person that had to wait to get out debt. It took you many years to acquire this debt and now will take you a few years to pay it all off.
Are you on the getting out of debt journey? If you are, please share you story. We want you to get out of debt fast so that you can move on with the rest of your life!
I’m in debt up to my eyeballs, and while it is almost all “good debt” (i.e., student loan debt, home mortgage, HELOC, and 0% credit card balance, which I guess is the best kind of “bad debt” you can have), it still keeps me up at night! My plan involves squirreling away as much money each month as I can, then paying off various loans when I have enough money saved up.
My issue is saving up to my potential each month. As I discussed in a recent blog post, I should be saving a whole lot more every month than I am currently saving. That’s really got to stop, and I think there are steps I can and should be taking to keep myself on track.
We, too, have mostly “good” debt, but with a mortgage, a car loan (at least we only have one of those!), a home equity loan and the real killer, the 2 kids in college, finances still keep me up at night. And there’s so much (conflicting) information out there! I’m currently reading Debt-Free Millionaire by Anthony Manganiello. He has a 5-step process, and also details the pitfalls that could await those who are unaware of some of the secrets of the “debt-relief” services industry. One of the things that makes so much sense is that you have to change the behaviors and decisions that get you into your current bad financial condition. OK, that seems obvious, but sometimes you need to really have it said in a different way. And another interesting tidbit — he talks about the difference between what you earn (gross) and what you take home (net), and points out that if you’re in debt, you’re probably paying taxes at a higher tax bracket than you probably should be. I had no idea.
I’m not sure I’ll become a millionaire, but I’m definitely going to be better off. And with retirement 10 or 15 years away, that’s a very good thing.
I wish I could tell people there is a magic pill or an “easy way” to get out of debt… but there is not.
Here’s the hope: once one commits to getting out of debt, both mentally and spiritually, they win the war. After the commitment is made it’s just a matter of fighting small battles each day until debt freedom is reached.
The fact of the matter is… this is a “thinking problem.” Until people start thinking the way they need to instead of the way society has conditioned them to think… they will never win.
Change your mind. Think for yourself. Get out of debt.