If you want to accomplish any large task, it's important to break it down into several lesser tasks. If you want to get out of debt, it's best to break this down into several smaller goals. And if you want to make sure you meet those goals, one way to do it is by making commitments in the form of communicating your goals to others.
Don't feel bad if turning your finances into something manageable, without filing for bankruptcy, seems like an impossible task. For most people who are overwhelmed with their finances, the goal "to get out of debt" can seem impossibly large on its own. But once you break your main goal down into smaller goals, you'll see how possible this actually is.
Informing others about your goals can be a great help. Telling your goals to five or ten "responsibility buddies" will help. Now, if you don't meet your goals, you don't just have yourself to answer to! The extra "social pressure" can really help you out.
But when your focus is to get out of debt, you don't want to only focus on the positive things you want to achieve. This doesn't mean that you need to focus on the negatives of where you're at, and how much you hate your situation. In fact, focusing on the negative about your situation may only just make it worse?
The "negative goals" you want to form involve the financial habits that you want to eliminate in order to save money (and then use the money to pay off your debt). Keep in mind that you can use this same process for other types of goals as well.
You've likely already thought of some of the smaller goals towards paying off your debt, such as, "I will only buy the store brand instead of name brand, when possible," and "I will keep my car until it absolutely just runs down."
These are of course a way of eliminating some things--by replacing them with cheaper counterparts or options. But you may also wish to think of what you can out-and-out get rid of, and not just substitute with a cheaper option.
Most of us think of these in terms of item purchases we can cross out--restaurant dinners or even fast food; new vehicles or vehicle accessories; new clothes that we don't absolutely need.
But you can also pay attention to services that you can cut as well. If you hire someone to trim your lawn every week--let them go and do it yourself, unless you have a way to make more money with that time, in your time off from your regular job.
Maybe you can cut down your cable bill by unsubscribing from extra channels. In fact, maybe you could unsubscribe from cable television completely--watching television is not going to help you double your income, reduce your debt, or do anything else constructive.
Another thing you can cut that won't involve spending less money, but will involve spending less time, is to quite spending so much time surfing the internet. It's a danger for anybody who makes any part of their living online. It won't cost a thing to cut--but it will make you more productive, and help you focus more on the important tasks at hand. And that means it will help you reduce your debt!
Don't feel bad if turning your finances into something manageable, without filing for bankruptcy, seems like an impossible task. For most people who are overwhelmed with their finances, the goal "to get out of debt" can seem impossibly large on its own. But once you break your main goal down into smaller goals, you'll see how possible this actually is.
Informing others about your goals can be a great help. Telling your goals to five or ten "responsibility buddies" will help. Now, if you don't meet your goals, you don't just have yourself to answer to! The extra "social pressure" can really help you out.
But when your focus is to get out of debt, you don't want to only focus on the positive things you want to achieve. This doesn't mean that you need to focus on the negatives of where you're at, and how much you hate your situation. In fact, focusing on the negative about your situation may only just make it worse?
The "negative goals" you want to form involve the financial habits that you want to eliminate in order to save money (and then use the money to pay off your debt). Keep in mind that you can use this same process for other types of goals as well.
You've likely already thought of some of the smaller goals towards paying off your debt, such as, "I will only buy the store brand instead of name brand, when possible," and "I will keep my car until it absolutely just runs down."
These are of course a way of eliminating some things--by replacing them with cheaper counterparts or options. But you may also wish to think of what you can out-and-out get rid of, and not just substitute with a cheaper option.
Most of us think of these in terms of item purchases we can cross out--restaurant dinners or even fast food; new vehicles or vehicle accessories; new clothes that we don't absolutely need.
But you can also pay attention to services that you can cut as well. If you hire someone to trim your lawn every week--let them go and do it yourself, unless you have a way to make more money with that time, in your time off from your regular job.
Maybe you can cut down your cable bill by unsubscribing from extra channels. In fact, maybe you could unsubscribe from cable television completely--watching television is not going to help you double your income, reduce your debt, or do anything else constructive.
Another thing you can cut that won't involve spending less money, but will involve spending less time, is to quite spending so much time surfing the internet. It's a danger for anybody who makes any part of their living online. It won't cost a thing to cut--but it will make you more productive, and help you focus more on the important tasks at hand. And that means it will help you reduce your debt!
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