Living with debt is a reality that most people are dealing with.

With high-interest rates and an overwhelming pressure to indulge in the latest trends, paying off debt quickly can seem impossible.

Here’s the good news, though:

So, here’s what you need to do before you start your debt repayment journey:

1. Create A Budget
2. Decrease Your Expenses
3. Make More Money
4. Negotiate Lower APRs
5. Make A Debt Pay Off Plan

After using these tips, I was able to save $3,000 and pay off my debt in half the amount of time I originally thought it would take!

Let’s do this:

1.  Create A Budget

This way, you can get a clear picture of how much money you make, spend, and have leftover each month.

To create a strong budget, follow this guide!

Then:

Decide how much money you’re going to put towards paying off debt each month.

2.  Decrease Your Monthly Expenses

If you’re currently living paycheck to paycheck and can only pay the minimum amount due on your credit cards, student loans, etc., it can feel like it’ll take you years to become debt-free.

And here’s the deal:

It will take you years to pay off your debt if you don’t free up extra money to make aggressive debt payments.

Here’s the good part, though:  Decreasing your monthly expenses is easy.

First, make a list of all your expenses.

Next:

For example, you should:

1.  Refinance your mortgage for a lower interest rate & start paying biweekly

2.  Sign up for Trim to cut your cable, phone, and WiFi bills in half

3.  Switch to Mint Mobile to save hundreds on your cell phone bill

4.  Refinance your car loan for a lower interest rate

5.  Shop around for lower car insurance

6.  Invest in energy-efficient options to reduce utility costs

7.  Consolidate your credit card debt into a personal loan to decrease your interest costs and create one low monthly payment

8. Refinance your student loans for a lower interest rate

9.  Switch to Chime Bank (it’s SO simple!) to get rid of all banking fees (and get a FREE $50 gift right now)

Then, once you’ve decreased your monthly expenses you can start putting that saved money towards additional debt payments!

You can create and track your savings goals with these printables! (included in our Budget Boss Binder)

3.  Make More Money

Easier said than done, though, right?

In our last tip, we encouraged you to decrease your monthly expenses by as much as possible to free up money.

If you weren’t able to decrease your expenses by as much as you thought, don’t worry:

There is always money to be made!

To make more money to put towards paying off your debt, consider:

1. Asking for a raise
2. Working overtime
3. Getting a second job
4. Freelancing
5. Starting a blog
6. Managing a side hustle
7. Sell your stuff
8. Take surveys

There are tons of ways to make more money each month and it will make a HUGE difference in how long it will take you to pay off your debt.

4.  Negotiate Lower APRs

Dealing with insanely high-interest rates that make it impossible to make progress on your debt repayment is the number one reason people feel hopeless when it comes to paying off debt.

So, before you start paying off your debt, you should negotiate lower APRs for all of your debt.

When you use Trim, they will negotiate lower interest rates FOR YOU, with just a single click of a button.

And, there’s more good news:

If you can’t negotiate a lower APR for some reason, you can always consolidate your debt into a personal loan or refinance your loan for a lower interest rate.

When you consolidate your debt into a personal loan, you’ll have a lower overall interest rate and will only have to worry about a single payment.

I recently consolidated my credit card debt and saved $3,000 in interest costs!

5.  Make A Debt Payoff Plan

You do not want to go into your debt payoff journey blind, because if you do, you will waste time and money.

To make a debt payoff plan, do these 2 things:

1. Make a list of all debts
2. Decide the best plan of action for each debt

I’ll go more into detail, now:

1.  WRITE DOWN YOUR DEBTS

1. Name of debt 
2. Total amount owed
3. Minimum monthly payment
4. APR

*Leave some room beneath each debt to write down your plan of action.

2.  DECIDE YOUR PLAN OF ACTION

Underneath each debt on your list, write down your action steps for paying it off.

For instance, will you:

1. Use the debt snowball technique?
2. Use the debt avalanche technique?
3. Consolidate with a personal loan?
4. Use a balance transfer credit card?

Having a clear plan for your debt will help you pay it off quickly, easily, and without stress!

*Bonus!  How To Make sure you stick to your debt payoff plan:

How are you going to make sure you stick to your debt payoff plan instead of spending your extra cash on Target runs?

Two ways:

1. Using a reward system
2. Tracking your progress

Firstly, promise yourself a reward after each debt is paid off – this will give you motivation and incentive to keep going.

Secondly – and most importantly – you should track your debt repayment progress to make sure you’re sticking to your goals.

When you use our Budget Boss Binder, you can easily create your debt repayment goals and then track them each month with our debt repayment tracker!