Finance

The secret key to debt reduction is for you, the debtor, to be absolutely committed, totally 100% committed, to reducing your debt or getting out of debt entirely. Have you ever been totally obsessed in achieving anything? Take just a moment, look back on your life and think of a time when you were that obsessed.

Get Very Excited About Debt Reduction

Perhaps it’s been a while since you attended college, and you were obsessed with getting higher grades. You attended every seminar, lab and class and you maintained copious notes. You read way ahead in your assignments and focused clearly on your studies feverishly. You studied early enough in the semester so you weren’t caught unprepared at the times for mid-terms or finals. Your family and friends knew better than to want or expect you to just hang out with them or to slack off from your goals.

Perhaps it was that new car you were very excited about. You looked at pictures of it in Road and Track or other car magazines or looked it up on the Internet and read reviews and specs about it. You read the owners’ manual and craned your neck each time you saw a car just like it go by while you were riding around town in your boring older car. You saved and sacrificed, and you put away all the money you could need to buy that dream car. Then came the memorable day when you purchased the car, and it was yours, all yours.

Get Really Obsessed About Debt Reduction

Debt reduction takes a certain kind of commitment, dedication, and, yes, obsession. You should be thinking every day, 24/7, about how you can reduce your debt. As you board the bus or train to commute to work instead of driving, congratulate yourself on all the money you are saving on gas and parking.

At lunchtime, when your co-workers spend $5 to $10 or more on sandwiches, salads, and burritos, take your homemade sandwich or salad out of your brown lunch bag and congratulate yourself on reducing your debt by $50 per week. That is $2,600 per year of debt reduction!

After work, at night, enjoy a movie on DVD. Save $10 to $20 by watching movies at home instead of going out to see them. Eat dinner, and dessert if you wish, at home. Ask if someone can teach you how to cook if you don’t already know how.

Track Your Changes

Keep a notebook or journal of your quest for debt reduction. Write down every cent you save, so you will know that your minor efforts have been worthwhile. At the end of every week, add up your savings and write a check for the amount you have saved. Use that money to achieve your goal of debt reduction by applying that sum to your highest interest credit card.