There are days that this question hits me hard. Can I really pay off all my debt? I get depressed whenever this question hits me because it’s a lot of debt… So can we really do this?
Does this question hit you? How does it make you feel and how do you move forward?
There are so many questions I would love for you to answer when this question hits but let’s talk about the question at hand.
CAN I REALLY PAY OFF ALL MY DEBT
Yes! There are days that you maybe feel that the answer is NO but its YES, YES YOU CAN!
HOW DO I KNOW THIS?
Well, it because there are so many people that have. People that have a low income or one income, they have done it so why not you?
HOW DID THEY DO IT?
A question I always have for those people is how did they do it. How did they pay the debt? After reading lots of debt stories, I feel that some play it off as “it was easy” or they are not giving you all the info. Do you get this feeling?
But there are some stories that truly share the adventure. Because let’s face it paying off debt is an adventure. Here are some things I have noticed they always say:
- Admit the amount of debt to yourself
- Set goals & make them crazy!
- Create & use a budget
- Have a game plan (aka: which debt to pay first)
- Focus on one debt
- Work at it one day at a time
- Sacrifice now
- It’s hard work but well worth it
- Find extra money by selling stuff or getting a second job
These are just some of the things people say but they are the ones that stand out most to me. So let’s talk about each of them a little more.
WHAT WE CAN DO TO BECOME DEBT FREE
- Admit the amount of debt: This is the very start of the process. You need to admit that you want to change and you are willing to do whatever it takes.
- Set goals: I have talked about goals in my step one of building a financial foundation but what most of these people do is make the goal a little crazy. For a debt that would take 18 months to pay off, they set a goal to pay it off sooner (9 months!).
- Budgeting: This is normally the BIGGEST TOOL for people to pay off their debt. If you don’t have a budget you will never pay if off. See how to create your own budget here, plus I share a FREE workbook you can use every month.
- Have a game plan: You need to know what debt you will pay off first then the next… If you have no idea or you’re not completely sure if you are picking the right one, check out my paying off the debt post because it has a fantastic FREE Tool to calculate which debt to pay off first! Which one will save you the most money!
- Focus on one debt: Think of your daily life, how hard is it to do 5 things at one time? Hard or not possible? Same with paying off debt, it will make it harder or you will never pay it off if you try to do it all. Look at paying off one debt at a time.
- Work at it one day at a time: This is something I have found very true. If I try to look ahead (months), I get distracted and frustrated. Focus on what you did really well that day and what you could improve on tomorrow. This is different than goals! Goals are good. But try to plan how much you should have extra in 3 months is not.
- Sacrificing now is a good thing: OK I added a little on this one. But you need to see that sacrificing things now will only help you to achieve your goal of paying off your debt. There are many things you can sacrifice and you need to decide yours.
- It’s HARD WORK: This is something I feel that most people do not stress enough. Paying off debt is hard work but so worth it. I love the debt story Chris shared on The Debt Myth because they say it was hard work but they would do it again to get them to where they are now. Be sure to read the story it’s pretty great!
- Find extra money: If you want to pay off the debt faster, you need to find extra money. So people do this by selling an unused item or finding a second job or both.
WHAT’S STOPPING YOU?
So what’s stopping you from paying off your debt? Are you not doing one of these things? Maybe you could do more? Whatever it is that is holding you back, change it and become confident in an answer to the question.
Can I really pay off ALL my debt?
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