Ways To Make Cash To Pay Off Debt

First Published Date : March 16, 2011 AdawnJournal.com

If you have too much debt and most of your current income is going to paying off that debt, you may be just treading water as you wait for the debt spiral to pull you down. This is why it is so important that you find ways to bring in some extra cash to help you pay off the debt. The more income you have, the quicker the debt disappears.

So, what can you do to make some extra cash?

The first thing you can do is to lower what you spend on everything. This can be done by not eating out and having dinners at home, using coupons, buying store brands and not name brands. In addition, walk as much as you can, take public transportation and telecommute whenever you can. This will save a lot of money on gas. You should also look at possibly moving to a place where you pay less rent, that will save you a lot of money. You can also talk to your bank about refinancing at a lower interest rate. The bank does not want you to go into foreclosure so they will work with you to make sure you can pay your mortgage.

Also, look at cancelling things you don’t need like cable, internet, any needless cell phones and if you have more vehicles than you need, sell them.

Now, when you want to make some extra cash, the first thing you can do is to talk to your boss about getting a raise. This is not always an easy thing to do but an increase in your income of just $100 per month, or $1200 a year can increase the chances of paying off your debt sooner. For example, if you make $40,000 a year and have a $15,000 debt and get a five per cent raise, you will be making an extra $2,000 per year. That means, using just your raise to pay off the debt, you can pay it off in as little as seven and a half years. Of course, finding other ways to increase your income will help pay it off.

One of the less desirable but most effective ways to pay off your debt is to get a second job. A second job, even on the weekends, can make you a lot of extra money. For example, if you work at a full time job during the week, you can get a part time job on the weekend. If that job pays $10 per hour and you work 10 hours a week, you are now pulling in an extra $400 per month and an extra $4,800 per year. On a $15,000 job, you will be able to pay it off in just over three years.

Just doing these simple things, along with holding garage sales and selling what you don’t need, can result in you paying off a debt in as little as one year. It can be just that easy.

NB – Figures shown above are for illustration purposes only and may not be accurate.

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