Now that you have made up your mind that you need to be debt-free, the next thing is to find the extra money to help you pay off your debt. Not everything seems as simple as it looks. When money is tight, it can be harder to find.
Sometimes extra money is hiding right under our noses, and we have a hard time seeing it. When you are concentrating on maintaining your budget and paying off debt, the last thing you want is long drawn-out methods to get some extra cash. You will more than likely be looking for some fast cash. Then as the debt gets paid down, you will be more likely to create more complex personal business systems or passive income streams.
When I went through my debt crunch in the nineties, I used all the examples below to help me clear my debt. The only reason I didn’t use the last one was that the internet was in its primitive stages and I didn’t own a PC. Go figure. Of all the crazy spending I did back then, I was never smart enough to overspend on a tool that could have put me ahead of the curve.
I was using computers I borrowed, and the only one I used was attached to the net. So here are my five best tips to get you extra cash to pay off the debt.
Debt-Free Living Tip #1; Make sure you start with a budget
Much of the time you have a good chunk of money to throw at the debt, but you don’t know where it is. HUH? I know it sounds crazy, but you need to start with a budget.
A budget will lay out simple expenditures and income in an easy-to-see format so you can see where all of your money is going. You might notice some extra money you never knew was going out on stuff you don’t even need to spend.
Just sitting down and putting together a budget, instantly gave me a wakeup call and I found money I could put towards pay down without even missing it.
It is the basis of a reasonable budget. A budget is the first place I would start.
Debt Free Living tip#2; Sell off unused items around the house
Selling off old stuff around the house is another great way of generating extra income. Most people I know have a bunch of extra stuff lying around, and they say they should get rid of it. Now is the time to start making it happen.
I would suggest starting to sell things on eBay. These will be the items that will draw the most profit for you. Do some research on these sites to see what similar items are going for and get them up there for sale.
The next tier of items I would try and sell on either Craigslist or Letgo. These are usually smaller more local markets. Often the more local the market, the smaller the market. And usually, the smaller, the market the lower the price you will get for the item. This isn’t always the case, but this is what I’ve seen happening more times than not.
The final tier for sale will probably be a rummage sale. A rummage sale will have the smallest market and will often pull the lowest prices. If you have things that didn’t sell in the first two areas, this is where I would try to sell them.
At this stage, you could get rid of some things, but the mindset that usually works the best for rummage sales is to ‘dump it’ and get rid of it. It’s more of a decluttering mindset for me. I try to make my big money on one of the other channels.
Debt Free Living tip#3; Fill your spare time selling services on Craigslist
If you have more spare time than money, one of the quickest ways of generating some extra money is by selling some services on Craigslist. I’ve mentioned this in some of my other articles, but I know this works. I didn’t do this back when I was paying off debt because there was no Craigslist.
I did do some odd jobs, but it was more by word of mouth than finding them or advertising on Craigslist. If you have any specialized skills, especially computer skills, I always see people needing help with specific areas where they lack knowledge.
If you have any specialized skills, especially computer skills, I always see people needing help with specific areas where they lack knowledge. Sometimes it’s just a matter of supplying labor.
Many times, people who physically can’t do strenuous yard work or clean-up work are looking for people who can help them out. Selling your time or skills on Craigslist can be a great way to get a little extra cash.
Selling your time or skills on Craigslist can be a great way to get a little extra cash.
Debt Free Living tip#4; Drastically cut all your expenses
Reducing your expenses can be a significant pain point, and it often needs to be a more extensive family discussion. Could you do without cable or satellite TV? You can save a ton of money by dumping cable.
You can get much cheaper replacements like using an Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, or Roku to give you some options for TV. If you are a hard-core debt payer, no cable or satellite at all could be an option.
If you can still get internet service into your home reasonably cheap, there are a ton of online options you could use instead of TV. My wife and I have been hooked on YouTube travel Vlogs lately. We stream them through our Apple TV box and watch a couple of YouTube videos a night as a wind-down.
Other areas to consider cutting out if you are looking for money are eating out, grocery bills, and travel. Cutting down on car usage and gas bills is one area I don’t hear too many people mention. Organizing rides better or carpooling are great ways to cut a ton of money out of your gas budget.
It all boils down to the amount of pain you are willing to endure to make the debt payoff faster.
Debt-Free Living tip#5; Get a part-time job
Getting a part-time job is down the list because, for those of us in the mindset of becoming financially free, this is going in the opposite direction. But, sometimes you will need to do what you need to do. Paying off debt is too important. You need to make it a priority.
Part-time jobs offer some quick, consistent cash if you have the extra time. You could land something in a couple of days and be getting paid within a couple of weeks. Part-time jobs offer some quick, consistent cash if you have the extra time. You could land something in a couple of days and be getting paid within a couple of weeks.
One thing I always tell people who are going to get a part-time job is to make it more worth your while than just the money. Do you have an interest in a new field or might already be considering a side business to start? Try getting a part-time job in that field to learn the ropes.
If you want to be in the blogging space eventually, get a job as a virtual assistant to a blogger. You will be getting paid, and you will be behind the scenes of their business to see how it works. If you have to work for someone, make the work educate you also.
Whatever things you decide to do to earn the extra money, always start with a budget. Treat yourself as your own independent business. Businesses have budgets because they work.
Till next time, be safe,
Kevin