Getting into debt is very easy, one can never have an idea of how much they are about to deal with because they will be busy in spending the earned money and enjoying their life.
To own a debt you need nothing much to do. Gather some documentation ask few friends eligible to give your guarantee and you are all done, ending up with tons of money in your bank account and enjoying a long time, spending the money you got in the loan.
But getting out of debt is a reverse process. If not used wisely, you might end up with a big problem of paying the amount back to the person or institution you asked for debt from. Here we will not focus on teaching you ways to get loans from banks rather; we have compiled some amazing ideas for you to get out of your debt, on your own.
There are a number of cases where people can be seen running lots of credit cards and used the amount that was a lot more than their actual salary. They can also be seen buying a number of stupid things and the things they didn’t even need including weekends in hill stations, brand new cars, flying lessons and much more.
Although, we can’t say that they didn’t have fun during all those ventures but, all those spendings were actually based on the dream of earning a 100K job just after graduation. But facts are always different than the dreams and we all know that things don’t work well and as per we dream, think or plan about them.
In the most general case, such people have a tough time in completing their studies and then finding an average paying job. The things didn’t end up the way they might be thought. And soon they get caught with the debt and are left with no way out of the money problems anymore. Such people soon realize that they are barely making money to meet their monthly needs and the amount they owned was twice of what they were earning.
Related Read: How to Manage your Expenses when you get Unemployed in Pakistan
Understanding the numbers, such people are soon seen to be deciding to change their habits of using and borrowing money and every now and then. What help such people the most in this situation is their hardworking nature. If they are not afraid of working hard or spending some more hours each day. But they can only bring a change when they decide to do so.
Here is a simple guide to the sure-fire ways of getting out of debt this year 2018 and move towards a financially stable life ahead.
Defy: Face the numbers of how much debt you own?
Although it might come as a nightmare to you, you have to face it and come with a clear number of how much debt do you own. Ignoring is never a solution or a way out of the problems in any way. Try to face the numbers as early as possible; ignoring it won’t save you from the problem.
In the past, I did pay the minimum of my debts and forgot about the rest afterward. This is not a healthy activity and I would not recommend it to anyone. If you are really looking to get things done, go for seeing a clear picture of the numbers, consider and calculate every single penny you own to anyone.
In Pakistan, we do not have any kind of university or student loans, but in a case, as that of mine, you might have to pay the car loans, credit card loans and others. Calculate all of them.
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Debt Versus Income Ratio:
The ratio between the two is the most commonly used figure that is meant to place your debt side by side to your income. This ratio is calculated in a number of ways. If you apply for a loan for a car, the bank will calculate your DTI with a percentage of the monthly installment you will be paying to the bank, from your monthly income.
For example, if you are earning PKR 50,000 per year and you have PKR 25,000 in debt; your debt ratio will be 0.5. This number will give you a clear picture of where do you stand in your debt scale and how you have to move on with the process of paying it off. No matter how much debt do you have, you need to look at the ways in a positive manner to the things done.
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Change Your Behavior:
Getting out of any problem starts by kicking off the habits that dragged you into that situation. Thus you must start with eliminating the reasons that dragged you into the debt. Check yourself your habits and your activities that lead you to the current situation. Not even a lottery can help you if you don’t know how to spend less than what you have earned. People get in debt for a number of reasons. Medical bills, school fees, job loss, or if you are spending insanely, just like me. Whatever the reason is, analyze the facts and find the root causes and kick off those causes from your good book.
Here are some suggestions that you can keep in consideration! If you have already taken a loan for a car, do not ask for another to upgrade the latest model of car you own. If you are piled up with debt because you lost your job, once you pay off all the debt, start working on saving some emergency funds to never let it happen again. If you have spent years on living a life that you cannot afford, start moving towards a lifestyle that you can actually afford.
Living within your means is the best thing to keep with you to stay away from situations like these. However, changing your lifestyle the way you have been living for long. However, if you get it done once you will surely live a better life ahead.
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Earn Enough:
To get out of debt you need to grab enough money from your pocket. Remember you need to earn money to meet your daily and ongoing expenses and have some amount on hand to pay the debt installments. The faster you want to get out of debt, the more you need to earn money, limits your expenses and pay maximum amount for the debt installments and decrease the debt number.
Earning more is important for paying your debts. By just only cutting the expenses, you can never help you the way it should. Rather it will leave you with a bit more frustrated and stressed, as a result having a negative impact on your productivity and self-motivation.
Here I would like to mention that now everyone has to earn extra bucks to pay his/her debt but it surely makes the process a lot easier. And if you are really willing to do that, there are a number of options to earn money.
Related Read: How to Save Money in Your Health Insurance Plan?
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Selling Your Stuff:
For a person like me, it is obvious to have a lot of stuff that is not in your use. Get help from OLX or other such websites. They can offer you potential customers with better rates for the goods you are not using anymore.
Selling stuff, you don’t need will not only help you get rid of things you don’t need anymore and they can give you some instant cash.
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Working Harder:
Get yourself busy in some extra means of earning. But the second job is not fun, it requires a huge amount of energy, dedication and time to get these tasks done. But it is a must as well when you have bills to pay with a lot of zeros in it. Think of how stress you are by the end of 9 to 5 job and then getting into your car and rushing to the next 6 to 10 job, getting free from there and get back to home at 11, left with energy to do nothing.
However, putting some extra hours will give you some extra money but will surely suck the life out of you. If you are not willing to go this way, or it is hard for you to manage in this way or that, you can go for other options like delivery route services, babysitting, mall stores and others.
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Work Smarter:
No hard work can pay you well if you are not playing smartly. Smart working is one of my favorite ways to increase your income. Smart working will surely promote you at work and if it is not happening, it is the time to change your job. Find yourself a better paying job. If you are not getting any higher paying job, that you think you deserve, you must find ways of your own.
Tools that Helps to Get Out of Debt:
Top of the list, motivation is half the battle. But there are many other tools that can help you get out of debt easily, and if they exist, why not take advantage of them!
Getting out of debt in 2018 is far much easier than it was a few years ago. The credit crunch is an old story unless you completely burnt your credit scores. The credit systems these days can help you climb your way up, to the edge of the hole.
a) Balance Transfer: In some cases, zero% balance transfer can offer an immediate relief from a higher credit card debt. But this situation is not a cure for all. A balance transfer is a lollipop that is used by credit card companies to attract new customers to sign up for a new credit card with an interest rate of zero% for the specific time period. But there are many drawbacks to this approach as well.
b) Loans for Debt Consolidation: Finding unsecured personal loans is becoming easier day by day and are used to consolidate various many debts into an affordable payment on monthly basis.
c) Debt Management and Credit Counseling: despite the fact that you can save money by paying your debt on your own, there are times that it just simply doesn’t work. In such instance, the credit counseling services or debt management services might help you. However, being in Pakistan you have to check with your lawyers or finance management companies if they are offering any such services or not.
Related Read: 25 Ways to Save Money in Pakistan if You are a Salaried Person
An Overview of Possibilities:
Let’s now end up the discussion with an aim to review of what are the possible and potential elements that we found in this discussion to help us deal with the debt management.
- Diminish the use of a credit card
- Sell things that are not in your use
- List down goals you might focus on to earn money
- Look for better salary increment or higher paying job
- Transfer a high-interest rate balance
- Overview of your debt and find the exact number of what you own in terms of debt
- Recheck your budget
- Make extra debt payments
- Look into credit counseling
Once done with these essential steps, you are almost halfway done to pay to start getting rid of your rising debts.
