Top 5 Steps to Reduce Debt

You don’t have to hang with your debt 24/7.  There are solutions to effectively kick it to the curb so you can move forward financially, psychologically and emotionally.  Check out our top 5 list of debt reduction strategies – get mean and lean!

5. Call your creditor and request a lower interest rate.  Payments are more effective when the snowball of high interest rates has been slowed down to crawl with a significantly lower rate.

4. Skip Starbucks. Buy your own Tassimo and make your latte from home and to go.  Over a 20 year period you can save $33,000. To make this savings count, throw every dime you would have spent on speciality coffee on one specific creditor.

3. Success breeds more success. Target the creditor with the smallest balance (not necessarily highest interest rate) and throw everything at it including the kitchen sink.  Don't forget to make your minimum payments to your other creditors.  Once you have successfully brought one creditor to a  zero balance, using this strategy, close it down.  You will feel so successful that you will have the momentum to move onto the next creditor.  Remember, out witting debt is a psychological game of cat and mouse. Don’t be the mouse! Meow.

2.  Go to a cash based system.  You can’t pay off a debt if you keep adding to it. Stop using your credit cards. Stick them in a freezer and forget about them.  And, don’t forget that pesky debit card.  Shut it down. Before you know it, you can nickel-and-dime yourself out of your pay cheque by using your debit card indiscriminately.  Stick to cold hard cash. Loonies, toonies, and pennies count too!

1. Don’t give up! Consistency and persistence pays off. Be disciplined and stick to your plan.  Before you know it, you will have reduced you debt significantly.

And, if you have tried the above strategies and investigated other options with little success, book an appointment for a free and in-person consult. We specialise in personal debt restructuring with the goal of reducing debt by up to 70%.  Debt restructuring could be the most strategic move available to get on the road to financial and psychological liberation. 

For more info contact Cait Wilms  T: 604.600.1189 E: caitw@4pillars.ca  Website: www.richmonddebt.ca

Appointment available in Richmond and South Surrey offices.