How To Eliminate Debt

Is your paycheck spent before you even receive it?  Do you have credit card bills, car payments, and mortgage payments that gobble up your paycheck?  Being debt free means the only bills you have each month are for the things you use that month: phone, water, gas, sewer, and utilities.

There are a number of things you can do to make this happen:

1. Live within your means.  Don't spend more money that you earn.  It's because many people spend more than they earn that they are in debt.  Once you are living within your means try to spend less than what you earn to eliminate your debt load.  Baby steps before you walk...
2. Stop using your credit cards.  You incur debt because you charge things you can't afford to pay cash for such as shoes, clothing, and household goods.  Many of these items eventually end up at garage sales or you wind up giving them away to friends and family.  By not using your credit cards, you stop incurring new debt and can start paying off your old debt.  Eventually you will be free of credit card debt.
3. Cash is King.   Pay cash for all your purchases.  When your cash is gone, don't shop any more.  How many times have you been unpleasantly surprised by a credit card bill?  By using cash you always know how much you can spend.
4. Automate savings.  Your workplace's HR department will help you make this happen.  Choose a percentage (5%, 10%, or 20%) that you feel comfortable saving.  You don't need to do anything; your company will do the work. Just make sure you don't spend your savings.  Interesting factoid: people who are debt free also usually have substantial savings!
5. Stop Shopping.   This sounds like an oxymoron, but many people in debt continue to shop for unnecessary things.  You need groceries but you don't need new clothes every week or a new car each year.  
6. Increase your mortgage payments.  Increase the amount you pay each month on your mortgage and put this toward your principal.  This will speed up the time it takes to pay off your mortgage.  And eventually you will be debt free (including mortgage free).  If you never try, you will never succeed.
7. Have a garage sale, and use the proceeds to pay off debt.   Get rid of your junk by selling it to others for cash.  Put the proceeds towards your debt.  You will be surprised by how much money you can make with a garage sale.  Your junk is someone else's treasure.  This has the added benefit of showing you how much secondhand stuff is worth. 

When you are debt free you are free to try different things, and not held back by your finances.  Don't let your finances prevent you from living the wonderful life you were meant to live.  This may mean taking risks, traveling internationally and domestically, or going back to school.