This post is part of a larger series on financial health and wellness. Be sure to check out all of our content throughout the week and save it for future reference!
As someone who has been paying off their nearly $200,000 in consumer debt (i.e., we don’t own a home), the amount of time that I think about paying off debt is absurd. Seriously. My husband and I personally use the debt snowball method, which I will explain below, along with a few other methods you can use to get out of debt.
If you are ready to start paying off debt, check out a few ways below!
Pay More than the Minimum
This might be a no-brainer to some, but foreign to others. Have you ever noticed that the average credit card statement tells you that if you pay the minimum amount due that, it will take YEARS to pay off? On top of that, the interest you pay is not INCREDIBLY high. Whereas if you pay more than the minimum, it significantly reduces the amount of time you will be paying on your credit card. Start by looking at your budget to see what additional funds you can put towards your debt.
Debt Snowball
This is the method for paying off debt that we have used for about 85% of our debt-free journey. Write out all of your debt. This can include credit cards, personal loans, student loans, car notes, medical bills, 401(K) loans, etc. Now put it in order of smallest to largest. Using Excel makes this quick and easy.
The goal of the debt snowball method is to pay the minimum on all of your bills, but every extra dollar that you have goes towards the smallest bill. It is meant to give you momentum. Get rid of some small bills fast and see those quick wins. My husband and I started with 36 debts, most of which were our student loans broken down individually, and it was amazing to see some really quick wins. It got us energized to pay off our debt.
Settle for Less than You Owe
Let me first be clear here that I do not have a lot of firsthand knowledge here. One recent example I have is when my son had surgery. We had a $4250 bill due (our deductible). I called the office, and they said that if I waited until I received a bill two months in a row without making payment, that they could offer me a 20% discount. That saved me nearly $1,000.
I do know that if you have some bills in collections, that you can settle. But before you give someone your account information, do the following:
- Confirm the debt – Call your debtors and have them confirm the amount that you owe.
- Request to settle – Start low. If you owe $2000, offer $400. Make them counter offer. See where you can get them to meet you.
- Get it in writing – Before you pay anything, you get that settlement amount in writing. You want to have proof that you paid exactly what they were settling for.
- Pay them directly (bill pay, wire, etc.) – Don’t give them access to your account. I’ve heard horror stories of people giving their bank information without verifying anything, and then next thing they know, they are getting money pulled from their account.
Debt Avalanche
The debt avalanche is another method for paying off debt, fairly similar to the debt snowball, except instead of focusing on the smallest to largest, you focus on the highest interest rate. If you are interested in finding out if the debt snowball or debt avalanche method is right for you, then go to Undebt.it. You create an account, type in all of your debt (i.e., balance, interest, due date, etc.), and it will give you an estimated debt-free date.
Getting out of debt is not an easy task, nor is it one that you might even like to think about. It could be overwhelming, to say the least. Take it from someone who had almost $200,000 of debt, without even owning a home. I get it. But, the first step is realizing that you acknowledge it’s time to start paying off debt. Sit down, review your debt, and take it one day and one bill at a time. If you need a cheerleader, or even someone to just bounce some ideas off of, just let me know! I’m very active in the #debtfreecommunity on Instagram.
So true Kara!
The hardest part for me was to set up a hard budget.
The snowball method worked best for us!
Yes debt snowball! So simple and so effective!
Make sure to write things down, but give yourself grace to if mistakes happen. It is okay to mix up your debt free journey, I personally started with the debt snowball, but then moved into paying off my higher interest rate debt and then just worked with what worked best for me and my family at the time. You can achieve it!
It’s on my to do list to call the companies (health bills) I owe money to to try to settle for less than I owe. This is even more encouragement! Thanks.
We are huge fans of the debt snowball and used it to get rid of all of our consumer debt this year! It is amazing the power one can have when they commit to something.
So good– we have used all of these methods at different times in our lives– finally paid all CC debt and are working on the home and car! 5 years is our goal for EVERYTHING!
We love the debt avalanche method! We primarily have student loans as our debt. But I am also a strong believer that any method is better than no method! Thanks for sharing your great info!!
I just adjusted my payments to pay more than the minimum! I’m excited to start my debt avalanche starting in June after I fund my emergency fund!
I personally have always liked the avalanche method because I despise interest! But everyone has a method and reasons it works for them!! As long as you’re knocking out that debt!
Great advice!