Are you looking to pay off your debt early and free up some of your monthly cash? Increasing your monthly payments and putting that extra money to work will have a big difference on how much interest you end up paying. Learn how to quickly pay off debt with these simple strategies. We also offer advice on paying off credit card debt,too!
How to Quickly Pay Off Debt
1) Debt Stacking –
The concept of paying a fixed amount every month to your loans and putting extra money on the loan with the highest interest rate while continuing to pay the minimum on the rest of the loans.
Once the loan with the highest interest rate is paid off, you continue paying the same fixed monthly payment, but now you apply the additional payments to the next highest interest loan.
The additional payment would have increased at this point because you are no longer paying on the first loan you paid off. This is the stacking effect that allows your loans to be paid off much quicker!!
For example, Lets say you have the following debts –
- Loan 1 (Credit Card) = 22% interest rate, $105 minimum monthly payment
- Loan 2 (2nd Credit Card) = 15.5% interest rate, $55 minimum monthly payment
- Loan 3 (Car Loan)= 6% interest rate, $80 minimum monthly payment
- Loan 4 (Student Debt) = 3.75% interest rate, $110 minimum monthly payment
The total monthly payments for all of your loans equal $350 and you have dedicated $425 of your monthly income to aggressively pay off your loans.
You pay the minimum on all the loans and the extra $75 will be applied to the highest interest loan 1 (credit card) until the loan is paid in full.
Once loan 1 is paid in full the additional payment will go to loan 2 (the 2nd credit card). The additional payment will increase from $75 to $180 ($75 + $105 – the monthly payment for loan 1). This additional $180 will then be applied to loan 2 (the 2nd credit card) until that loan is paid off in full.
This cycle will continue on until all loans are paid in full. By the end of this strategy you will be applying the full $425 payment to Loan 4 (student debt) and it will get paid off extremely fast!
2) Snowball Effect –
The concept of paying a fixed amount every month to your loans and putting extra money on the loan with the lowest balance while continuing to pay the minimum on the rest of the loans.
The snowball concept is similar to the debt stacking concept. The only difference is you arrange your debts from lowest balance to highest balance. Once you pay off the loan with the lowest balance, you put that extra cash towards your next loan with the lowest balance, and so on.
This is another strategy of how to quickly pay off debt by increasing your monthly payment.
3) Stop Expensive Living Habits –
This is the best advice on paying off credit card debt that I can give – STOP SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY!
This is easier said than done for some people, but if you can get this under control and change your spending habits, you will greatly reduce the amount of debt you owe.
Only buying the things you need, taking advantage of sales/promos, and using coupons, and not going out so much are all ways to free up cash. Using this extra money is how to quickly pay off debt with only a few simple changes.
4) Stop Paying Fees –
So many people pay fees without any hesitation – that’s crazy!
ATM fees, for example, require you to pay a fee to get your OWN MONEY. Most people don’t second guess taking money out of these machines. By using no fee ATMs, you can save those few bucks for something else.
Late fees are also a huge waste of money. By paying your bills on time, you can save all this wasted money in fees.
If you can’t seem to remember when your bills are due set up auto-pay. As long as you keep enough money in your account, you won’t have to pay late fees again!
5) Transfer Your Balance –
Transferring your credit card balance to a company that offers you a lower interest rate, can save you a lot of money in interest cost. By saving money on interest you are reducing your cost to borrow that money, saving you money that can be used to pay down other debts.
Using this advice on paying off credit card debt and our strategies on how to quickly pay off debt will enable you to control your financial future. Living within your means and reducing your debts are important personal finance responsibilities most people ignore.
