How To Become Debt Free

Yes, you can be debt free if you really want to. It's not easy, and you have to be determined, but you can do it. Here's the method in a nutshell: 1. Stop charging anything. If you can't pay cash for it, you can't afford it. 2. Open a savings account for semi emergencies (car repairs, unexpected medical expenses, etc). Don't use it for anything else, but do use it instead of going deeper into debt. 3. Increase your income and at the same time, decrease your outgo. Get a second job or do something to bring in money. Read frugal living sites, learn to cut costs wherever you can. 4. Use the excess cash to pay off your debts. It doesn't really matter which order you pay them off, but whenever you get one paid off, take however much you were making on payments and put it toward the next bill (along with its regular payment) 5. Start building another savings account for things like replacing automobiles and housing. You can't do it overnight, but you can do it.

Hello terilee! To become debt free is not easy especially when your income is not enough to your needs. But, lets classify the needs & wants. The needs is our food, clothing, shelter & education. Wants are something not important to our daily living. So in this, you can start budgeting your income to your needs first. Paying cash is one factor to be a debt free. Then stick to your budget. If your don't have budget for a thing you want to buy do not force to buy/spend your money. Try to look for another income or a part time job that may you think can help you. But the most important to your problem is to pray that God will guide you and help you to reach your goal. Determination also is important, you have to be determined to your budget and spending.

My husband and I paid off 20k of credit card debt several years back. It look awhile to do and we followed the "snowball method" this is where you pay the highest % off first. You throw everything at the debt and pay the minimum towards the other ones. I also recommend reading Dave Ramsey's books to help with making a better plan.

I think the most important thing is to really look at your income and your spending, draw up a realistic budget, and stick to it. It isn't easy, but the only way to get out of bad debt is to be honest with oneself about what one really can afford. I once worked four jobs to get myself ahead financially. It was worth it in the long run, but it was exhausting!

I think anyone can get out of debt, or be debt free, if they want to badly enough. I remember my Mom said they never had credit cards. They bought a car and paid for it, and decided they'd never get in debt again. So she started putting that payment in savings just like she was paying that payment again. When it came time to buy another car, they had the money to pay cash. She has never been in debt again. And she owned only one credit card for a clothing department. She would charge to get their 5% off and then go to the credit department and pay the bill. She never had a statement come to her. I thought that was neat. We have lots of cards, but only one with a balance which is almost paid off. We occasionally charge on the Discover card but it is paid off immediately when the bill comes in. We just use it like cash since we don't use debit cards. And we use our gas card because my husband is an annuitant and gets a percentage off the balance but it has to be paid off immediately as well. We own our own home,too, and it is nice not to have a payment like that, believe me. How would we ever afford it with things like they are today. I don't see how people can keep getting more and more in debt with the rising of prices.

Well, is always better not to borrow money or as they say, never borrow money if you can't pay it back. I am not in debt, I am very careful where my money goes. I know there could be a day when there's an emergency and you'll end up paying lots of medical bills to the point where you have no choice but to borrow money. My family doesn't have insurance, but we can trouble to our country of origin and get medical attention for free. I would recommended people to stay away from credit cards.

Well there is the only pay for it when you have the money, but that might not work or we would be sleeping in tents and not in houses. So what I would do is to pay down your credit cards, starting with the one with the highest interest, and pay more than a minimum on the rest, then when the bad one is done, take the next one and pay most the month on that one, and with the rest, pay more than the minimum. Go without sweet stuffs or luxuries. Buy no name rather than regular brands, eat out less, or rather eat at home, brown bag it. Eat local produce, eat more fruits and salads stuff, cheaper than processed. Walk rather than ride if the place you are going is only a mile or so away. Shop at second hand and start a savings plan not just for emergencies but for the things you will need later on, then all you need to do is to write a check, plop down your debit card or pay off the credit card balance each month if you are interested in the points or cash back reward.

I think for all of us it is a struggle to live on what we make. The more we make the more we want to spend. If we all just got our urges under control then we would be a lot better off. We have struggled and struggled and now we have most of our debt payed off. We have out home and one car payment left. We do use a credit card but we pay it off at the end of the month. It was all baby steps to get us that far.

The best way to be debt free is to stop using credit cards and pay of the remaining balance. You need to get more cash flow..another job on the side or something to pay it down. There are so many people who are always willing to help people in need as well. I've heard a story where a girl got a website and just asked for help to pay down her debt (she bought too many clothes and shoes and was a student) and she got it all paid off. So..just ask for help. If people say no, do not take it personally. Just think how you at least put yourself out there and tried. Good luck. Oh..another thing is to have the attitude that "Money comes easily and frequently" instead of constantly thinking that you don't have money and are in debt.