Debt free in a few innovative steps

You want to be debt free. No one wants the burden of a debt-stricken life. Here’s how to break out of that life and be debt free.

The problem of debt in America

Millions of Americans simply do not know how to manage money. That’s why debt settlement services have mushroomed in America. That’s why any TV channel that carries ads, carries as many ads for debt settlement as for home test kits for diabetes! Surely you would never want to count yourself among these financially crippled people?

If you follow these steps, you, too, can be debt free.

A program to become debt free

1. Do not incur more debt once you are working to relieve the debt you have. Do not exhaust your credit card; that might tempt you to lead an extravagant lifestyle—and rack up more debt. Make a budget and stick to it. Curtail your excess spending, and pay off the debts with the money you save. Don’t stretch you repayment plan; you might have to pay more than you owed to begin with.
2. List your debts and the interest rate on each one. That will help you guess the total amount you owe. Keep your higher-interest debts on top. These are your priorities. While they stay unpaid, the interest adds up. It could add up so much that you cannot even afford the principal.
3. Negotiate with your creditor to lower the interest rate and the penalty charges on the principal balance. A good debt settlement company will negotiate with debt collectors on your behalf. They will make the repayment plan affordable for you.
4. Open a savings account. Deposit a fixed part of your income into it. Do not exhaust your savings account for an impulse buy. The savings account is there to help you during a financial crisis. If you need a loan, the savings account will serve as collateral. (And don’t borrow more than you can secure!)

These four innovative, effortless, and simple steps will make you debt free.

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Editor’s note

Governments should follow this plan. What Mr. Smith has outlined above, is simple common sense. That’s why Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN-6) and others have said that the Congress should not raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances. Raising it would violate Step 1 above.

The United States will probably never become debt free in any of our lifetimes. We’ll be blessed if we can start to pay it down. But if we don’t do it now, we will never be able to.—Ed.

Featured image: an eraser rubs out the word “debt.” Photo: Alan Cleaver, Creative Commons Attribution License 2.o Generic