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How to Spend the Rest of Your Life Debt Free
The simple fact is to spend the rest of your life debt free, you need to become debt free. It's the becoming debt free that most of us struggle with.
A heavy debt burden is like climbing a mountain with 100 kilos on your back. It never gets any easier unless you drop the weight. Fortunately, it’s possible to live a life without any debt! Eliminating debt and staying debt free both require time, discipline and patience, but the freedom you receive is well worth the effort.
There are two things that will factor into the time required to become debt free:
1.The size of the debt
2.Income.
You control your debt. You can stop debting right now, make a pledge to yourself to not incur any more debt and then focus on doing everything you can to pay it down. (Use a Payment Push - it works, and will help keep you on track.)
And you control your income. You may think you don't, that your wage is what it is. But you can increase income by making more money. The financial gurus are always recommending that those in debt spend less money (I do too, but there comes a point where you can't spend any less). If you’ve already cut your expenses to the bone and are looking for more, nothing is more powerful than making more money.
You’ll be surprised by how much you can make when you make earning a priority. Most of us go through life only doing enough work to avoid getting fired. Imagine if you used your time with the intention of maximizing your wealth.
Look for a second job. Find a skill you have and sell it. It may be cake decorating ($500 for a wedding cake is on the lower end of the price range, some wedding cakes can cost $1,000 or more!). Perhaps you are word processing whizz and can sell your services to local businesses. You may love walking and dogs, combine the two to become a dog walker. If you have a car, perhaps a delivery driver is the answer. Stocking shelves in supermarkets, cleaning, ironing, gardening, mowing lawns, cleaning pools are all jobs that will bring in extra income if you can't find a part-time job in your field.
Making more money will allow you to get out of debt faster, provided your spending doesn’t increase.
Save. It's not hard; saving is simply putting the money you don’t spend away, and letting it build up. Simple. A healthy nest egg is one of the best ways to ensure that you stay free of debt. Even a small financial hiccup can result in debt if you don’t have the savings to handle the issue, so make it a habit to save something from each pay, even if you can only afford $5 a week. It's a start, and because you're not using it, before you know it you'll have $100, then $500, then$1,000 which will continue to grow.
It takes patience to save, and you never need to accumulate any debt if you’re patient enough. There are people that never borrow money to purchase a car or a home, let alone go on a holiday or redecorate the house. Instead, they save until they can pay cash.
The less you need to buy, the easier it is to stay debt-free. This is especially true with impulse purchases. Are you patient enough to wait until buying a new shirt or phone makes good financial sense? Remember the $100/24 Hour Rule, make it your shopping mantra and keep those impulse buys under control.
Instead of shopping, focus on the people in your life and contributing to others. Materialistic people face more financial challenges and are much more likely to accumulate debt.
Living debt free means you need to make some decisions, and then stick them. What is most important to you? Do you really want an expensive car? Or do you just want to impress the neighbours? How much of your spending is ego-based?
It also means, that for a short time, you'll be making sacrifices. It's a no brainer really: If you have debt and you really want to get out of debt (you're not just saying the words, you mean them), you’ll have to make a few sacrifices to get out of debt. If you currently don’t have any debt, a few sacrifices will help to ensure that you can build a cash savings buffer and stay out of debt in the future.
Make a list of the things that you need versus those that you want. Cut your budget until you’re free of debt. Then you can begin adding back a few things, but only until the budget balances, and only if you have an emergency fund to fall back on.
Prioritize. You might not be able to afford a grand piano, a trip to Hawaii, a swimming pool, and a new car. However, you might be able to afford one of those items. It’s all about priorities. Go back to your list of what's important to you. Temper your expectations and decide what means the most to you, and then decide if you can afford it, or if you'll need to save a little longer.
If you’re going to spend money, spend it where you’ll receive the most utility. That simply means limit your discretionary spending to those things that are most meaningful.
Another way to save money quickly, and effectively, is to pretend you make less than you do. There are people that live on 50% of their income. Could you do the same? It’s hard to lower your lifestyle, but it can be done. For starters, imagine that you make 10% less than you do and either save that 10% or apply it to your current debt. Remember, it's only for a short time in the grand scheme of your lifetime, it's not forever.
Now imagine a life without debt. No mortgage, car payment, or credit card payment to hold you down.
You can be financially free. Debt-free living is a lifestyle. It’s not a single event. It’s necessary to change your lifestyle and outlook if you wish to become and remain debt-free. Start making the necessary changes today and very soon, you’ll be glad you did.
A heavy debt burden is like climbing a mountain with 100 kilos on your back. It never gets any easier unless you drop the weight. Fortunately, it’s possible to live a life without any debt! Eliminating debt and staying debt free both require time, discipline and patience, but the freedom you receive is well worth the effort.
There are two things that will factor into the time required to become debt free:
1.The size of the debt
2.Income.
You control your debt. You can stop debting right now, make a pledge to yourself to not incur any more debt and then focus on doing everything you can to pay it down. (Use a Payment Push - it works, and will help keep you on track.)
And you control your income. You may think you don't, that your wage is what it is. But you can increase income by making more money. The financial gurus are always recommending that those in debt spend less money (I do too, but there comes a point where you can't spend any less). If you’ve already cut your expenses to the bone and are looking for more, nothing is more powerful than making more money.
You’ll be surprised by how much you can make when you make earning a priority. Most of us go through life only doing enough work to avoid getting fired. Imagine if you used your time with the intention of maximizing your wealth.
Look for a second job. Find a skill you have and sell it. It may be cake decorating ($500 for a wedding cake is on the lower end of the price range, some wedding cakes can cost $1,000 or more!). Perhaps you are word processing whizz and can sell your services to local businesses. You may love walking and dogs, combine the two to become a dog walker. If you have a car, perhaps a delivery driver is the answer. Stocking shelves in supermarkets, cleaning, ironing, gardening, mowing lawns, cleaning pools are all jobs that will bring in extra income if you can't find a part-time job in your field.
Making more money will allow you to get out of debt faster, provided your spending doesn’t increase.
Save. It's not hard; saving is simply putting the money you don’t spend away, and letting it build up. Simple. A healthy nest egg is one of the best ways to ensure that you stay free of debt. Even a small financial hiccup can result in debt if you don’t have the savings to handle the issue, so make it a habit to save something from each pay, even if you can only afford $5 a week. It's a start, and because you're not using it, before you know it you'll have $100, then $500, then$1,000 which will continue to grow.
It takes patience to save, and you never need to accumulate any debt if you’re patient enough. There are people that never borrow money to purchase a car or a home, let alone go on a holiday or redecorate the house. Instead, they save until they can pay cash.
The less you need to buy, the easier it is to stay debt-free. This is especially true with impulse purchases. Are you patient enough to wait until buying a new shirt or phone makes good financial sense? Remember the $100/24 Hour Rule, make it your shopping mantra and keep those impulse buys under control.
Instead of shopping, focus on the people in your life and contributing to others. Materialistic people face more financial challenges and are much more likely to accumulate debt.
Living debt free means you need to make some decisions, and then stick them. What is most important to you? Do you really want an expensive car? Or do you just want to impress the neighbours? How much of your spending is ego-based?
It also means, that for a short time, you'll be making sacrifices. It's a no brainer really: If you have debt and you really want to get out of debt (you're not just saying the words, you mean them), you’ll have to make a few sacrifices to get out of debt. If you currently don’t have any debt, a few sacrifices will help to ensure that you can build a cash savings buffer and stay out of debt in the future.
Make a list of the things that you need versus those that you want. Cut your budget until you’re free of debt. Then you can begin adding back a few things, but only until the budget balances, and only if you have an emergency fund to fall back on.
Prioritize. You might not be able to afford a grand piano, a trip to Hawaii, a swimming pool, and a new car. However, you might be able to afford one of those items. It’s all about priorities. Go back to your list of what's important to you. Temper your expectations and decide what means the most to you, and then decide if you can afford it, or if you'll need to save a little longer.
If you’re going to spend money, spend it where you’ll receive the most utility. That simply means limit your discretionary spending to those things that are most meaningful.
Another way to save money quickly, and effectively, is to pretend you make less than you do. There are people that live on 50% of their income. Could you do the same? It’s hard to lower your lifestyle, but it can be done. For starters, imagine that you make 10% less than you do and either save that 10% or apply it to your current debt. Remember, it's only for a short time in the grand scheme of your lifetime, it's not forever.
Now imagine a life without debt. No mortgage, car payment, or credit card payment to hold you down.
You can be financially free. Debt-free living is a lifestyle. It’s not a single event. It’s necessary to change your lifestyle and outlook if you wish to become and remain debt-free. Start making the necessary changes today and very soon, you’ll be glad you did.