In it Up To Your Eyeballs? There Are Ways Out. - Debt Reduction Help.Debt reduction. It may one of the biggest challenges we ever face. Mostly because it’s a tough concept to wrap our brains around the idea that reducing debt (especially credit cards) is the same thing as increasing one’s wealth. But it most certainly is. Most folks don’t seem to mind floating a couple of credit card bills, maybe a line of credit to buy furniture or a family vacation, and then thinking that building a savings of a couple of grand in the bank is somehow putting us further ahead than if we focused on that debt and chipped away at those pesky monthly payments. Believe us when we say that $2000 in the bank earning little to no interest is worse than taking that same $2000 and paying off that amount of debt costing somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% interest over the course of a year. It’s certainly a less satisfying feeling than having the money in the bank but it’s definitely smarter. Trust us. Pay off the cards. Get rid of that line of credit. Stop spending so much money on the stuff you don’t need. Listen to Uncle Everett & Uncle Will and you’ll thank us someday. Okay, where to start. Budgeting. Yeah, it’s boring. But it’s so important. There’s an old saying that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And if you just simply don’t know how much you’re spending or where it’s even going, you can’t make the sensible changes and reductions you need to get where you want to be. But we dedicate a whole section to it so check it out on the website elsewhere. Next, credit cards. They stink. How’s that for insight, huh? I think we all realize that by now. Credit cards for most of us do nothing but create a false sense of wealth by allowing us to buy stuff that we wouldn’t normally be able to own otherwise. Now, credit cards aren’t all evil of course. They sure come in handy in case of emergencies..or if you ‘re in a position to pay off that balance at the end of every month. Using them to build up frequent flyer miles or take advantage of other perks is a pretty nifty trick if you got the money to pay them off in full on a monthly basis. But then, there’s the rest of us. We carry pretty hefty balances spread out over a couple of cards that we let float month after month all the while buying those lottery tickets banking that it’s the only way out of this mess. It’s not. There are a couple of strategies popular to systematically pay off those monthly payments.
The most famous and probably most efficient debt reduction strategy is the ‘Debt Reduction Snowball’.
But there’s also a variation on that snowball that while not as efficient and financially sound, allows for a little more peace of mind at night.
If you’re all about a good night’s sleep, this alternative might be for you.
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