How To Pay Off Debt Fast

Being in debt sucks.

But working to get out of debt is just as bad.
Some might argue it’s actually worse seeing as you’ll likely spend more money on debt repayments when you’re trying to get out of debt than when you’re just cruising along accepting your debt.

After all, the only way to pay off debt is to plough ahead, paying it off as quickly as possible.

Therefore it’s no surprise that so many people want to pay off debt fast.

However most people find that paying off debt at *any* pace is hard enough; paying off debt fast can be even more challenging, and you’re going to need to put some serious effort into the process (though it’s entirely possible).

If you want to pay off your debt as fast as possible, here are some of the most effective strategies for paying off debt quickly…

Transfer Your Debt

The very thing that makes debt painful is the interest rate. Put simply, the longer it takes you to pay off your debt, and the higher the interest rate, the more you’ll pay overall. The reverse is of course true; the sooner you can pay off your debt and the lower your interest rate, the less you’ll pay.

If you want to pay off debt fast then every penny of your debt counts. The more you can shrink the sum that you owe, the sooner you’ll be able to get it paid off.

Which is where transferring your debt can come in very handy.

In most cases, especially if you’ve had your debt for some time, you’ll be paying top whack for your interest payments. However many other loans and credit cards will welcome new customers with far more competitive rates; sometimes zero interest.

Lesson number one then is to do some shopping around to try and find a zero interest credit card or loan, onto which you can switch your debt. Assuming you can get your debt paid off before the interest-free period runs out, you’ll in effect halt the interest accruing on your debt, enabling you to pay it off faster.

Rapid Liquidation

Paying off debt can be like trying to adopt any other habit; at first it can require real effort and motivation, but after a while it gets easier and easier.

The key is to try and adopt the habit as rapidly as possible, and one of the best ways to do this is with an easy win.

Just consider another example for a moment. Imagine that you wanted to lose weight and with great effort you started a new diet.

All week long you’re hungry and tired. You hate the exercise plan. It’s hard work.

At the end of the first week you weigh yourself, and to your horror discover that you weigh exactly the same as the previous week! All that effort was for nothing!

Now consider this alternative. You get to weigh-in day and find that you’ve lost 4lbs in your first week! That’s *twice* what you expected! You’re over the moon and can barely wait to get started on the following week.

Suddenly all that effort you put in looks worthwhile; after all it produced even better results that you were expecting.

Who knows how quickly you’ll achieve your target weight at this rate?

It’s a very similar case with getting out of debt; the harder you can throw yourself in at the beginning, the more motivated you’ll be to complete the course. In other words, when you’re trying to pay off debt rapidly you need a few easy wins to “kick start” the process.

In my opinion one of the best ways to get started paying off debt is to liquidate some assets and put this money into debt repayments. In essence, what you want to do is sell as much of your unwanted clutter as possible.

Have a yard sale. Go to a car boot sale. List everyhing on Ebay. Your goal should be to downsize your belongings and then turn the items located into spendable cash as quick as is humanly possible.

The turn around an apply this to your debt. The first time I ever got serious about paying off my debt as rapidly as possible I managed to “find” just over $1000 in the first month purely from selling unwanted items around the house. And being able to instantly slash this amount off the debt I owed was a massive motivator for me.

Negotiate With Your Creditors

Another technique for rapidly paying off debt is to ring up your creditors and actually speak to them on the phone. Tell them that you’re keen to pay off your debt and you’re wondering if they might be able to do something to help.

For example, if you were able to make a sizable lump-sum payment (hint: what you earned in the previous step) would they be able to reduce your debt in any way? While there’s no guarantee of success here you might be surprised by just what some creditors are willing to consider doing for you.

On many occasions I’ve heard of creditors who are willing to write off interest, charges or even some of the principal in exchange for a sizable one-off payment.

Ask For A Pay Raise

If you want to get out of debt fast then you’re going to need to apply as much cash to the problem as possible. One way to do this is to speak to your boss about a pay raise. Discuss with them why you think you deserve a raise in a calm and professional manner and see what happens.

As I’m sure you can imagine, another $100+ a month thanks to a pay raise is all gravy that can be applied to paying off your debt.

Buy Only The Essentials

The final step for paying off debt fast is to reduce your monthly outgoings down to a bare minimum. In doing so you’ll be able to withhold as much of your earnings as possible, and apply it to repaying your debt, rather than spending it on drugs and hookers (well, ok, coffee and cable subscriptions).

Take the time to track and monitor your expenses, cutting anything other than the absolute essentials, then apply the savings to your debt in order to pay it down as rapidly as possible.

Got any questions about getting out of debt? Please leave them in the comments section below and I’ll try to answer as many as I can…