5 helpful tips for paying off debt

Everyone I speak to in the adult world talks about their debt. Whether it’s from college, credit cards, or their new vehicle. This year I wanted to read more but truth be told I should focus on my debt. It’s a terrible habit and so easy to rack it up.

Make more payments more often. This will save on interest and pay off quicker. If you just pay once a month at the minimum balance you aren’t contributing to paying off the balance. Paying the minimum just keeps it steady and will only be paying the interest. However, if you make a payment at  least twice a month, you will not only pay it off quicker, but you will also save money on the interest accrued on the balance every statement period.

Pay more than the minimum balance. Again, if you pay just the minimum you are carrying over a higher balance and you are mainly paying off the interest. If you pay more than the minimum you will make a dent in the balance and pay the card off quicker. This is assuming you cut off complete spending of the card.

Delete Credit Card info from online stores. This is a huge tip. I didn’t do this and accidentally had re-occurring payments set up on my credit card. I would even hide the card from myself but still would run up charges because the information was stored on sites I visited often. Not to mention having my card info saved only added to my impulse shopping habit. I would check my email and see a sale and click on the site, add to cart and before I knew it, I was online shopping because it was all too convenient.

Save for an emergency fund. I used to do this before I had kids, but now more than ever is when I need it. If I were to be laid off from my job, I would not have enough to pay my bills. Many Americans faced this during this pandemic. I know it’s so hard to save but open up a separate account and then pretend it doesn’t exist. I used to put a certain amount from my check and deposited into the savings account I had. That way it was like I never even saw the money; which means I couldn’t miss it.

Pick a debt to pay down first. I’m not a credit expert, but for me the one with the lowest amount is where I started. Because I could contribute more to it and pay it down quicker it made me feel more productive and I am more of a result oriented person. However, I have read that you would normally pay off the credit card with the higher interest rate first because this will save you more money in the end. Do your research and chose the best course of action for yourself and work towards paying off that credit card. You can do so by either making a larger payment amount or by making payments more frequently. Not to mention because of Covid-19 a lot of credit cards are offering lower financing and different options for payment plans.

I hope this has helped you gain some insight and maybe motivation to pay off those cards. Paying off debt is a big new year’s resolution. This year I decided to be more specific and realistic, I hope to pay off two credit cards.

This week: Try to decrease the time you spend on social media by 10 minutes a day.