When it comes to paying off debt fast, it can be easy to look at your budget and think that you’ll never make it happen. I’ve been in that spot before, and I know how defeating it can feel.
But, don’t worry. You can, in fact, find more room in your budget with just a few changes. I know it’ll be easy to dismiss simple savings like $15 here or $25 there, but avoid that temptation and make a plan for your savings.
Trim
Okay, I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t used Trim, but several of my friends have and swear by it. Trim will negotiate your bills for you to help you save more money.
The only reason why I have yet to use them is that we don’t have cable and our cell phone bill is already super low (see Republic Wireless below). But if you find that you have a high cable, internet, or cell phone bill, it may be worthwhile to try out Trim to see if they can save you any extra money.
Republic Wireless
We’ve been using Republic Wireless for over two years now, and we love them! It’s been super reliable, and our cell phone bill is super cheap. In fact, if you or your spouse is a stay at home parent, then it may be worthwhile to consider switching because Republic works off WiFi and the less you use of cell data, the more money you can save with Republic.
To see all the details on Republic Wireless, head here.
Insurance
If it’s been awhile since you last called around and got quotes on your insurance policies, it’s time to make this happen. Yes, it will take some time, so make sure you plan out some time this week to gather quotes. I suggest getting an independent agent to help you with this.
Typically, an independent agent doesn’t cost you anything up front, but they can save you so much time and even money by doing the heavy lifting of finding you insurance policies that work best for your family. A simple Google search can help you find an independent agent.
Annual Spending Review
If you haven’t completed an Annual Spending Review yet, I encourage you to head here to this post to finish one. By doing a spending review, you’ll be able to see which months you spend the most money and you’ll be able to see what categories you spend the most money in as well.
Some Important Things…
Okay, so everything listed above will, in fact, help you save some serious money and help create more room in your budget. But – and this is a huge but, how do you make sure you actually do with the money what you said you’ll do with it?
First, you must have a budget. In fact, before you do any of the above mention things to save you more money, create your budget. Once you’ve created your budget and you know exactly where you need to work more room in, then you can start slashing things and saving money.
Second, you need to have a plan in place for your extra budget room before you do any of this. If your goal is to pay off debt, then you need to set it up in your budget to pay the savings towards your debt every month and to make sure that this amount is reflected in your debt payoff plan of attack.
If you don’t do this, you’re more than likely going to fail at increasing your debt payoff success. Money has a way of slipping through our fingers, and if you don’t develop a plan now, you’ll be tempted later to spend the money on something else that pops up.
Third, you must avoid accumulating new debt. While you’re deep in the midst of trying to pay off debt, it is essential that you avoid taking on more debt. So, commit today to cut up the credit cards, and decide that you’re done with debt. If you haven’t already started a starter emergency fund, make sure you get that done ASAP as that’ll help you avoid reaching for debt when things get tight.
If paying off debt is important to you, get serious with your money, and before you know it, you’ll be debt free.
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