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Credit card and student loan debts are no joke. For credit cards, you’re spending money you don’t even see (much less have), and for loans, you go to college so you can get a good job, but end up working a job just so you can pay it off.
And when there’s interest being stacked on top, debt just becomes that much more overwhelming. But what about those success stories? What about those people who slayed the debt they owed and literally bought their own freedom? There are plenty of tips out there, for quick-get-out-of-debt strategies and methods that will take a few years, so which ones should we listen to?
Well after going through plenty of basically useless success stories, I was able to find a few that had some great tips and hacks when it came to paying off debt. I really want to provide value for my readers, not just go tell them they should make a budget. I mean that’s a given right? There are already plenty of budget how-to’s out there, and while these posts I talk about list it as one of their tips, I’m going to mention the tips they give that are really smart. The ones that feel like I’m being given an actual strategy.
So below are 10 awesome tips for getting out of debt. Pick and choose what works for you so you can build your own strategy and gain freedom.
How I Got Out of $40,000 Worth of Debt
Now James goes into budgeting and how he sectioning off his living expenses and how much he needed to get by for the whole month. And he also talked about what he cut back on, but what I liked the best was when he said,
“From time to time, I would fill up my car with gas and my fridge with food and see how many days I could go without spending any money at all.”
What he did was commit himself to a debt-free lifestyle. And this means finding any way you can to bring down that debt. This will just make your freedom that much closer, and then the extreme frugal living will finally be at an end.
Read more of their debt free tips here!
How I Paid Off $7k of Credit Card Debt in 7 Months
Like a lot of people she created a budget and cut out the necessities, but one thing that she did really stood out to me. Because she had credit card debt, she was able to call the credit card companies and negotiate a lower interest fee. Then anything she had to pay would be less and she’d be debt free all the sooner. I would never have thought about that!
Check out the rest of her debt free tips here!
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More Tips for Saving Money and Setting a Budget – How They Paid Off 20k
Even if it’s not $50k or $40k, owing $20,000 is still a lot of money. But what they did to get it down was great. And one of the things they did was plan 3 months ahead of time, so if something popped up, there would be no need to put it on the credit card.
So while it is important to know where you money is going, sometimes it’s not the most important thing when it comes to getting out of debt.
Just being able to have the money put aside for surprises or known future expenses (kids back to school clothes), can save you from adding onto the debt with credit cards.
Read more of their debt free tips here!
We Were Tired of Being Broke So We Paid Off $52K in 7 Months
Being $52,000 in debt is pretty overwhelming. Even just reading about their story and how they got their wakeup call is a lot to take in. But their story doesn’t come without success.
One of the best tips they had? They used the Dave Ramsey Snowball Method (which you can check out his amazing get debt free book here
Progress is the biggest motivator towards your success.
See the rest of their debt free tips here!
How We Ditched $18,000 of Our Debt in a Flash
Sometimes it’s hard to give up what we want the most, but this writer Jessi, did just that. She and her husband were deep in debt and has just purchased her dream car; a fully loaded Tahoe. And even though she was the one who wrote the check, she was also the one who said she’d give it up and sell it for something cheap. After finding the right dealer who would do an exchange, they dumped $18k of their debt and were able to work on their other debts. Lightening the load may hurt, a lot, but it’s what can make us free from our burdens.
See more of their saving strategies and debt free tips here! Link removed, page no longer exists.
How We Paid Off Over $22k in Less Than 9 Months
On one low income, taking care of a kid, and another on the way, Shannon and her husband had expected to become debt free in 10 years not one. They had used the snowball method as well (by paying an extra payment of $39 towards their smallest debt until it was gone in a couple of months), but another one of the ways she saved money and put it towards the debt was not buying when something broke.
Every time an appliance stopped working or got damaged, they replaced it with something cheaper or improvised. Any of the money they might have put towards the broken item was put towards the debt, bringing them out of it that much faster.
Read the rest of her debt free tips here!
That One Time We Paid Off Our House
Now while paying off a house may not be the same as paying off credit cards or student loans, it still is a form of debt. Over years you must make payments so that one day you’ll fully own the home you live in. And knowing how to do just that can be pretty hard, but Kelly was determined.
Along with paying cash for everything (so credit card debt didn’t just get piled on top of the house payment), or her and her husband riding a junky car, they also bought less house than they could “afford.”
This meant that they sat down and found out how much house they could actually afford in payments. They were also able to do this by finding a good real estate agent (they give a link to finding the best real estate agents); someone who has your best interests at heart.
Check out the rest of their awesome debt free tips here!
How We Got Out of Over $147,000 in Debt
Quick and simple, Anna and her husband made payments towards their huge debts with every chance they got. So that might mean eight payments a month with the extra money they had so they could be debt free.
I thought this was a good tip since I’ve always thought of paying off debts as a once a month occurrence. But just making multiple payments whenever you can sounds like a great solution to shrinking the debt fast.
Read more of their debt free tips here.
How to Pay Off Debt in 90 Days
Now if you’re a single person with a debt that isn’t as crazy as $100k or even $20k, then this tip is great. Lauren was $8k in credit card debt and had been told it’d take a year for her to pay it off. But she didn’t want to wait that long. In fact, she wanted it paid off in 3 months (now that’s fast!).
So what did she do? Well she got clear on her numbers. If she wanted to pay off $8,000 in 3 months, she had to pay $2700 towards the debt each month.. this was steep, but she wanted it gone.
By just determining your own time frame for your debt to be paid off, you’ll have a clearer vision of your freedom; it won’t be some far off in the future goal. Also, the bigger and crazier the deadlines, the more of the things you’ll end up cutting out that you wouldn’t have before (therefore prolonging your debt freedom). If you can make it work, then it’s worth it to tighten up the belt and take it out fast so it’s not a burden on you any longer.
Read more of her debt free tips here! Link removed, page no longer exists.
Bonus Debt Free Tips!
How I Paid Off $170k of Student Loans
Living just off of her husband’s salary, Crystal put all of her income towards the debt to fight it off. Now this may not be an option for some, but for a couple who are both working, this is a great option.
It may seem hard at first to not spend that extra cash coming in, and living on one income may hurt at first, but once it’s done, it’s done. There’s no more thinking about it, and then you can focus on how you want to invest all of that extra cash you didn’t have before.
See the rest of their debt free tips here!
Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps Infographic
Whether you like him or not, Dave Ramsey still has some great tips when it comes to knocking out debt. And this infographic on doing just that is a great visual representation of one of his strategies. It really is an awesome photo to save when you need some help and inspiration.
Also, you can read more on the Baby Steps strategy here!
Join my EXCLUSIVE email list for money saving and making hacks!
Here I'll give you some of the best tips and hacks I have for making and saving money.
So whether you want to increase your income, get out of debt, or just some simple saving tips, I've got you covered!
Getting debt free is no joke. In fact, it’s intimidating and scary when you see how much you owe. But I really really believe you can do it. Seriously, if you need any advice or help, email me, I’d really love to talk, help, and encourage you. I know that dealing with finances is hard, but I need you to know that it’s something you can overcome.
Now if you have any debt free tips and strategies yourself, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear them!
Chasing Foxes was started in 2016 as a way for Grace and her husband, Silas, to start traveling. However, they started to realize that they had a passion for improving themselves, and wanted to help others level up their lives as well. So whether it's with cooking, travel, or staying healthy, they want to help you better your life bit by bit, as they do the same.
I like Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, but I guess I would change some of it around and say save expenses (3-6 mo.) first just in case something terrible happens, like a job loss. $1000 wouldn’t cut it for me if something really bad happened – my car is almost 10 years old and I know things will go wrong soon, and I’d rather fix it then get a new one and have car debt + monthly payments, for example! 🙂
Also, I’d rather pay down the debt with the highest interest rate rather than the smallest debt amount. My smallest debt amount has an interest rate of 1% so… I wouldn’t even save that much paying it off first. Otherwise, these are awesome tips and I’m off to check out Dave’s books!
Sell everything you haven’t used in two months and pay down your debt. You’d be surprised at the items that add up to neutralize debt when yo take the time to post them on sites like “offer up” or “Craigslist”!
Awesome tip Daniel! 🙂
Thank you so much for including me y’all! 🙂
Thank you so much for including me in this list guys! Such a great compliment xD
haha You’re welcome Jaymee! 🙂