7 Ways to Get Out of Debt Quickly

We all want to kibosh our debt as quickly as we can, am I right? I know I’m always looking for ways to do so! So I came up with a great list of seven ways to get out of debt quickly. Here we go:

1. Put all extra money towards debt. Things like government refunds (tax refunds, etc.), monetary gifts, money from a pay raise, extra money once you’ve paid something off (i.e. credit card, loan, etc.), work bonus, overtime work pay and any unexpected money you may receive.

2. Lowering bills or cancelling services you don’t need/use. Do you have a gym membership you don’t use often enough? Do you have utility services you could potentially get lowered? I just recently got my internet bill lowered by $35.00 so that extra money now goes towards my credit card debt. Right now, I’m also debating my gym membership. I might just switch to working out at home.

3. Side hustles. These can be very effective ways to get out of debt quickly, as there are so many options. A few examples of things you could do: sell a service on Fiverr (there are a range of different services you could offer on Fiverr), sell photos, sell arts and crafts (on Etsy, etc.), start a YouTube channel, online tutoring, house/pet-sitting, cleaning houses, proofreading services (if you are good with grammar, spelling, etc. of course), grocery shop for people, etc…the list goes on and on!

4. Sell your stuff. We all have items in our household that we no longer use, wear, etc. In these COVID-19 times, what better time to go through all of your belongings and sell them on eBay, Amazon or an online classified website such as Kijiji or Craigslist. You’d be surprised at what people will buy secondhand. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure!

5. Pay more than the minimum payment, even if it’s just a bit. Every little bit counts. This is one of those ways to get out of debt quickly just by being focused on it. For example, for me, it was frustrating to look at my credit card statement before when I was only making the minimum payment. I thought, I’m never getting rid of this debt. Ugh. Now that I’ve really gone hard on it, that is, always putting more than the minimum payment, I’m really noticing the difference. It’s finally going down, and at the rate I want it to.

6. Track your spending and see where you can cut back or cut out completely. This can be one of the most effective ways to get out of debt quickly if you can really keep an eye on your spending. I recently went through my online banking account to see what I was spending my money on and how often, for the year so far. It’s funny how things add up, I’ll tell ya! Even the little things, like buying a coffee every day, or a bottle of wine here and there, a lunch out, etc. If I were to use the unnecessary money I had spent this year so far on my debt instead, I’d be doing even better! Baby steps. I’m learning as I go.

7. Save on groceries. We can all spend less on groceries I’m sure. A good place to start is not going shopping while hungry. Other good tips I’ve learned along the way are buy sale items of course, but stock up on them. Especially the non-perishable items. I also love buying meat in bulk when it’s a good sale, and then just popping it in the freezer. Another way to save is to go in the store with the mind frame, “I’m only buying what’s on my list, nothing more!”. I’ve always been bad with that myself, but I’ve definitely improved on it.

Imagine combining all of these ways to get out of debt quickly? You’d be well on your way most definitely! Even try doing half of them and see what a difference that makes for you. Let me know if you have other ideas of your own that are working for you. Until next time!