I was reading an article today entitled, exactly the same as my guide, “How to Pay off Credit Card Debt”. So what was the advice it was giving? The same advice I have heard a million times over:
– make more than the minimum payment;
– talk to your credit card companies;
– develop a payment plan / budget for yourself;
– move your debts around;
– sacrifice a small luxury (or three);
– build an emergency cash fund;
– track your spending;
– don’t reward yourself for your hard work;
– as a last resort, stop using your cards altogether.
So in other words this is saying “spend your life sacrificing for your debt, finding money to pay it off that you don’t think you have, whilst also trying to save at the same time. Then talk to people who will just tell you to do the same and not have any sort of enjoyable life at all”. If that doesn’t sound like selling your soul, then I don’t know what does!
As if you are not burdened enough about the debt hanging over you, all you are told is to change your lifestyle utterly and completely in order to get any escape from it, and it’s not a change for the good in terms of having an enjoyable life! Is there not an easier way? Well, I am here to tell you there is.
Before you make that appointment with Satan to sell your soul and pay off your debts, think about what the real problem is.
The problem is you have a big debt, and along with that generally comes many bad feelings which make you more inclined to spend more money than to pay anything off and get your debt under control. This is where the problem comes in. We don’t want to face our debts, and when all everybody tells us is that we have to change our lifestyle , and stop enjoying ourselves, then we are even less inclined to face them.
In most cases, where you are managing to pay off the minimum amounts from your credit cards, or keep your overdraft just about under its limit, the real problem is not the debt itself, the real problem is our own attitude and feelings towards the debt – and of course towards change, especially if it means going without the things we love and look forward to.
I had massive debt. It plagued me all the time. A constant headache. The last thing I wanted to do was face that debt monster, and I was working so hard I couldn’t believe I was supposed to sacrifice all enjoyment to bring it under control. Well, I did bring it under control, but I didn’t sacrifice anything, certainly not my soul!
So what is the key to paying off those debts? After all, you accumulated them, so it is your responsibility to pay them off. The key comes in thinking about how you learnt to walk, little tiny steps at a time. And when you fell, did you stop trying? No, you got back up and tried again.
How does this help with credit card debt? Well, instead of trying to change your whole lifestyle, which brings about all those dreaded feelings, just pay a small amount extra off your cards at a time, something which will not cause you to make big sacrifices. These are the baby steps.
Gradually you will notice that these baby steps are taking you somewhere. You look back and you are moving away from the debt monster. This gives you confidence, it makes you feel good. This is the most important part, you are changing your attitude to your debt from one of negativity to one of positivity. Your confidence is building, so you are making slightly bigger steps and more of them. You fall less often. The next thing you know the dreaded debt monster is way out of sight behind you and you never felt the pain.
When you do fall. When you just have to use those credit cards. It doesn’t matter, provided you keep getting up again and making those baby steps away from the debt monster.
Baby steps. It’s easy. It’s effective. And you don’t have to sell your soul to make it work for you!
If you want to find the best way of making those baby steps to get you running as fast as Usain Bolt away from that debt monster then read my guide, “How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt” – click on the “Buy It Now” button to your right.
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