Dig yourself out of debt!

This world is a place of money, sadly for some people it is hard to obtain and even harder to get them to grow and help. Many years ago I fell into the trap of using credit cards, thinking I had it under control, sadly one credit card became several, I got loans to cover my credit card bill and quite quickly it became a bad spiral! It wasn't until my boyfriend shook me and held me responsible and showed me how much it really gutted my economy. He taught me about the stock market and how I could use it to make money work for me not against. I'm not the most money savvy person around but I learned a few things on the way - enough things to KNOW I will become a millionaire (I'm not telling what currency haha)

All kidding aside, we can all go with a little more money and a little less debt so here are some tips for you to use to get a grip on your economy and taking responsibility for your money!

Make a list: Yes this is nessecary if you're serious about getting in control you must see what's going in and what's going out. Think of calories in and calories out (if that helps). Calculate the exact costs of your current situation, don't forget interest and charges for invoices and your subscriptions (Netflix included) and take your salary and see if it matches, do you have more? Or aren't you getting enough?

Subtract the negotiables: this can sound a bit boring, but if you are not adding up to your costs and relying on credit you need to cut down your monthly costs. Cut down on eating out, downsize you cable tv, cut down on shopping, and yes, you might even need to sell a few things to get a grip on your situation. Strip down to the bare minimum: eating, sleeping and getting to and from you work.  When you do this and find that you are still breathing and happy to pay of the big bad bill you start to feel lighter in your step, future looks a little bit brighter and you can begin to dream about the better things in life you want to do (in my case, traveling)

Got in too deep? Get a loan: if you got yourself into a spiraling credit debt you might need to get a bank loan to get your costs down and the interest lowered. Before heading for the bank, make sure you don't have unpaid bills. Show up with a plan and with power in your voice tell them you will get debt free and have a budget to show them (that impresses them and they might get you better interest on your loan) go hard on your mortgage to get it off your back, impresses the bank, interest decreases as the loan decreases and you will feel relief in time.

Skimp on food: I'm not the one to eat unhealthily just to save a buck but in some cases you need to be smart about the purchases you do, so don't buy food "out of season" and look for no brand foods that are the same as the brand name ones. Go halvsies on meat with a neighbor or friend. Cut the takeout and coffee stops, and for the love of god stop smoking and drinking soda! Water is a luxury we need to appreciate! I'm not telling you to eat pasta and ketchup cuz I'm still a fitness freak and that would ruin your health, period.

Stop with the charades: Stop living like a millionaire and start thinking like one. Put off expensive parties, drinking beers and getting glittery outfits, there's nothing nice about spending your last dollars on a dress or a drink knowing you can't buy food for the rest of the month.. not sexy and not the best stress reliever. Find joy in the small things, getting a good rest sleep on the weekends (instead of a hangover only treatable by a large family pizza), invite people to walks, go jogging or do yoga, it's free and healthy for you! Eat together, invite people and tell them to bring a dish and share a nice meal together. Watch the movie at home instead of the theater (its nicer and you won't be annoyed by chewing and that tall guy in front of you)

Track your progress: Every now and then check in on your payments, see the numbers going down and your heart feeling lighter. Now you might be in a good state to start saving some of the money you are relieved from paying to a credit company. Don't fall back into consuming again, pile those hundreds in your bank account! Get an account with good interest and see your money reproduce into more money, read and maybe invest and get more leverage to get the snowball effect!

Final words:
This is like any process, please be patient and be sure that this takes time, everyday sacrifices and hard work. But know that you didn't fall into debt in one day and you sure won't dig yourself out of it in a day either. Be resilient and be strong, soon enough you'll be out of the woods looking at a bright future ahead. This year I will have relieved myself of debt and begun to see the result of my savings springing to action in a way I thought weren't possible. More on this another post ;)

I will become a millionaire - in time