What's the quickest way to get out of debt?

Question

Okay, two answers I don't need:

1. "Dedication and commitment". I've already got them, and I've been working steadfastly over the past year, contributing all that I can to my payments. I've eliminated all spending from my life that I possibly can. Now I need to find how I can accelerate the payoff.

2. Smart-*** responses. I'm genuinely asking for tips or tricks that have worked for others. (i.e., good ways of increasing income, companies that can help reduce debt, etc.)

I've been in a debt whirlpool for the past 3 years because I was never educated against it. Now I'm trying to crawl back out of this hole.

Any more tips I might have missed? (-and yes, I am a homeowner, but I've only owned it since November of '05)

Thanks...

Answer 1

contact your lenders and advise that you may have no alternative but to file bankruptcy ( assuming you already havent) work out a no interest payment plan, dont go to 'debit free' or one on those kind of companies , as they would do the same thing for you , though they will charge you like $39.00 a month for their 'service' and you will be locked in for the duration of the payout which can be 4-5 years, and at 5 years you'll be paying an additional fee to them in the amount of $2,340.00 @ 39.00 a month, which you would be better off applying that amount towards your pay off. Good luck.

Answer 2

If you are in good standing w/ creditors - no late payments, and such...you can actually call them and ask for a temporary reduction in interest for a finite period of time....

The fact that you bought a home is a good sign. You might call a realtor to run "comps" to get a ballpark figure of the value of your home - maybe it's increased enough to obtain a home equity line of credit - (not that attaching your only asset to old debt is a great idea, but.....)

In fact, if you are paying PMI ($45ish/mo) you may not need to - get a value and if you owe less than 80% of the VALUE, you can get the PMI removed....

Blue collar attitude might be: cut the cable tv $40
cut the internet $25
cut the cell phone $50
make sure your landline is the cheapest plan possible - no call waiting, no caller ID , and certainly no long distance plan on the landline....
There's a quick $100/mo that might help....Not Forever....just til you can get a handle on the worst of your debt.

Pay the smallest balances first......pay minimums on all others and slam down the small debt....then go to the next smallest balance and slam that one down..

I'd stay away from debt consolidation companies....you can do what they can w/out destroying your credit completely.....get your bills together and start calling - be polite and they will work with you.....good luck.

Answer 3

Have a budget. Dump everything you don't need such as the Starbux cofee ($4*365= $1460), cable (that's like $600 a year right there), extra trips in the car ($40*52=$2080), top of the line clothes ect. I think you could squeeze $2,000 a year with ease that way. If it's real bad, think of working another job on the weekends ($8*16 hours *52 week =$6656). So now you could possibly have $8,000 a year extra this way.

Answer 4

Pay yourself first from each pay. Saving even a little pays off down the road. You have to spend less than you earn.

Answer 5

Well I would think could you file for bankruptcy under the new law? If not I was taught to eliminate your biggest bill first then so on and so on. good luck!

Answer 6

There is a lot of good info on this subject right here.

Answer 7

rob a bank....dont spend any more on credit cards

Answer 8

sorry to say, for me its, death

Answer 9

ur a**