Aug 12, 2016

33 Proven Ways to Reduce Personal Debt

Editor’s Note: When I heard that my friends Gina and Josh Masters had recently paid off $66,000 in debt and had made a list of the 33 lifestyle changes they had incorporated to accomplish it, I asked if I could use it as a guest post. They humbly agreed. And this is the result:

“Live like no one else now… so that you can live like no one else later!” — Dave Ramsey

Three years ago, my husband and I found ourselves drowning in debt — $80,000.00 to be exact (and that’s not even counting the mortgage). Around that time, coincidentally, our church began offering a financial program called Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We spent the last $100 from that pay period to sign up. And the rest, they say, is history (or at least, most of our debt is now history).

As I write this, over the past three years, we have paid off $66,000.00 in personal debt. No magic, no quick fixes, no debt consolidation, or bankruptcy filing. Just persistent sacrifice. We have saved ourselves from financial destitution by making a number of simple, small changes in our lives.

Recently, my husband and I sat down to make a list of every change we had made hoping that it would encourage others. When we finished, we reviewed the list and were surprised at how simple it looked. Yet, all of these ideas — put into practice over a period of time — have almost completely wiped out our personal debt. They are tried. They are true. And best of all, simple enough for anyone.

Making Cents of the Dollars

33 Proven ideas to make your budget work and get your Debt under control:

Re-shop auto, home and life insurance to see if you can bring down your payments.
Downgrade your cable package, or get rid of it entirely.
Disconnect your home phone if you have adequate cell service at your home. Or downgrade to a cheaper package.
Buy and sell clothes at your local consignment or shop at Goodwill.
Have a massive garage sale. (If you’d rather be out of debt than have an item, choose to sell it to help you get you there.)
Advertise higher quality items on Craigslist, Facebook, or your local newspaper to get better prices.
Focus on buying mostly sale items at grocery store or generic brands to reduce your cost.
Use a grocery store awards program to earn money off gas.
Cancel unnecessary expenses like magazine subscriptions, newspapers, manicures, pedicures etc. Anything that could be considered a “want” instead of a “need” should go until you are out of debt or greatly decrease your debt.
Go to the matinee movies instead of paying full price (and skip the concessions).