How Can I Pay Off Debt?

bybrikel

307 followers

7 years ago

So I wrote this today as I was dreaming of all the possibiities we have through WA. Let me know what you think. :)

I am so frustrated with myself. I can’t believe I let myself think debt was socially acceptable, aka keeping up with “the Jones'”. It is time to break this ball and chain so my family can live life like no other.

How many of us have this sentiment? We tend to live life on credit, and when we finally come to our senses, we ask how did I get here, and how can I pay off debt? So…let’s talk.

Kelly’s Rant on Debt

Remember the stories from your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents? They were able to have a single income household and purchase a home for cash? If you were like me, you were in complete awe, because the notion of paying for things in cash is almost a foreign concept. In most cases, our family was living within their means and didn’t have the dreaded credit card!

Now, when we look at society, how many of us have student loans, credit cards, car payments, and lines of credit? In 2018, CNBC wrote a story on how the average American has $38,000 in debt, excluding the mortgage. These figures came from a study done by Northwestern Mutual’s 2018 Planning & Progress Study. $38,000 average! This is ludicrous.

Why do we feel it is okay to increase the amount of money we owe to banks and credit card companies? These companies know they have us around the necks, and can charge insane interest rates, knowing we generally cannot pay the debt off early. Are you really okay with these companies making millions of dollars off of you?

So, here’s a confession…I totally dig Dave Ramsey and his way off paying off debt. His debt snowball idea lit a fire under me to where I said “Enough is enough!” I want to live debt free, and I want my children to learn how to manage money properly and not live in debt like I have. But…how?

The Best Ways to Pay Off Debt

There are so many ways to pay off debt and live a debt free life, but you have to be willing to work for it. It may have taken you minutes to get yourself into debt, but guaranteed, it will take longer to get out of debt. The question is, how badly do you want to live like no other?

The first way to pay off your debt is to live beneath your means. You need to make more money than you are spending. This may not be easy; however, there are many tools you can use to help you budget on a monthly basis. See what monthly expenses you can cancel. Do you have subscriptions you don’t use? Maybe you should shop your insurance and wireless plans? You can call your providers and see if they will give you a discount based on your tenure. Meal prep and don’t eat out so often (which is super hard!) This first step will be the most eye-opening because you will see where your money is going…

The second way is to sell things. Everyone has stuff they don’t need or haven’t used is months or years. Have a garage sale or use online apps to sell your belongings. It may be difficult to let go at first, but once you start seeing the debt balances go down, you will know it was completely worth it. Does that mean sell your most prized possessions? No, not at all. If you have family heirlooms, or something that has a lot of sentimental value, keep it.

So, Kelly, I already live within my means, and I don’t have anything of value to sell…now what?

You have a couple options. First, you can find a side job or work overtime at your place of business. Grab as many hours as you can because those dollars can add up, especially during holidays. Will it be easy? No…but the outcome outweighs the frustration you feel at the moment. Second, you can pick up a side job or a side hustle. This can be anything from delivering pizza on the weekend to working at a coffee shop or utilizing your skills online for transcription or personal assistance work.

You will do what you need to do to be able to pay off debt as quickly as possible. I have heard people have paid off $100,000 within 2 years, but I have also heard people pay off $60,000 in 4 years. It depends on you and what you can do.

So, I Hate Being in Debt

How did I decide to pay off debt? Let me tell you about my situation first, and many of you might relate.

I am married to an amazing husband with whom I have three children. We were married for 10 years before we had kids, and our spending habits were that of a true American couple. We needed to keep up with those around us…we had to fit it. When I was pregnant with my second son, I was laid off and couldn’t find another job. (Remember back to 2008-2009?) Did we have an emergency fund? Nope. My husband ended up working his full time job as well as a second full time side job just to make ends meet. Once my third son (yes, three boys!) was old enough, I decided to go back to work.

Everything was going great, especially when I was promoted…the only problem? I wanted, I mean…my family needed a bigger house to contain 3 boys, a dog and cat, and a husband (which turned into 2 dogs, 2 cats, plenty of scorpions + my human family). I reached too far beyond my means. So to remedy my huge error, I started to look into side jobs.

Some of you might be familiar with not being able to work a second job outside of the home. This is my life. My husband works full time, but also takes on side jobs where he can be away from home in the evenings and on the weekends. His schedule does not leave me many options, so I turned to the internet.

I found tons of work from home scams, but I also found legit work from home opportunities. Some of these opportunities included Amazon MTurk (where you can make small amounts of money for menial tasks) as well as transcription work. Neither of these was feasible as I needed to be able to focus and type super fast. The focus part was the hardest part as I always had / have 3 boys, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and a husband who needed / needs my attention. So what else can I do?

A Legitimate Way to Pay off Debt

I found affiliate marketing. It was confusing at first, but I found I could actually work within the realm(s) of what I am passionate about and monetize the opportunity. The only problem I had was finding how to start affiliate marketing without paying a large sum of money up front (because I was trying to pay OFF debt). Finally, I came across an opportunity that teaches the basics of affiliate marketing, how it works, how to help people, and how to make money in the process. This is something I could do outside of my normal 9-5 job, from home, with kids running around, screaming (society, aka, not so much screaming, but I can manage this when they are doing homework or getting ready for bed).

Conclusion

If you are anything like me, you are tired of paying monthly payments to companies who really don’t care about your well-being. You want to be able to make purchases with cash, with no guilt. And with a clear conscience. You want to be able to give to the non-profit organizations or families in need within your community.

Let’s stop paying interest payments, and utilize our resources for our families and our community. Let’s build our online affiliate marketing businesses so we can live debt free. Who is with me?