An easy step that I took to saving myself money to resolve some of my debt was one I rather enjoyed. It involves selling what you can around your house to pull in extra money and then in turn, pay it toward your debt. For me, I focused on selling larger items on Craigslist. It's free to advertise and I personally savor my weekend too much to forfeit it to having a garage sale. I'm sure you will do much better than me considering I didn't have many items to begin with, but here it is:
1) To begin with I sold my weight training set for $450. I'm 41 years old and I personally don't need it anymore - running 18 miles a week suits me just fine.
2) I sold my vintage baseball card collection for approximately $3,500 - not bad considering the economy and diminishing popularity of the hobby. This was hard to let go of because of its sentimental value - plus I had a Michael Jordan rookie - but I saved some cards to pass down to my children, granted they're ever interested or card collecting becomes popular again.
3) I sold off our second car for $4,000. At first, this seemed to be an impossible task with my wife and I both working, but we were highly motivated to freeing up money. Many times I rode my bike to work to make this work.
Depending on how much you'd like to become debt free and in what time frame, I recommend you ponder what you can sell around your house to apply toward your debt. Do you have an old motorcycle that you can live without? A boat or jet ski? If you're trying to simplify your life by ridding yourself of debt, it may mean living a simpler life.
I rather enjoy having less clutter around my house and I'm certainly not done selling some other items as well. How motivated are you in becoming debt free and in what time frame do you want to do it in? Some other tips to saving yourself money - as it was and still is for me - could be the following:
1) Refinance your car, house, or home equity loan. Do you have enough equity in your home to consolidate your debt by refinancing with a much lower interest rate? I was able to refinance my car and now I'm saving $102 a month ($1,224 per year).
2) Plead with your credit card company to lower the interest rate, even if it's just for one year - any little bit helps. Most of the time these credit card companies will offer a lower interest rate, but for new purchases only. Don't get sucked into this offer because then you'll be using your credit card again. Speak to them about how you've been so consistent and prompt in paying your bill each month. I honestly didn't have any luck in this, but give it a try, because you may have the right touch. It doesn't cost anything to try.
3) How do you shop? Are you shopping at the most economical stores? Are you strategically planning your errands to be more fuel efficient? Do you use coupons? We buy 80% of our clothing from thrift stores. My wife has an amazing knack for finding the top brands (Columbia, Perry Ellis, Dockers, etc.) in "almost new" condition. When it comes to grocery shopping we only buy what is on sale, even if it's not on our list.
In conclusion, by selling items around my house and the refinance of my car I saved a total of $9,174 over a one year span. I am almost sure that you will be more successful in saving money than I was. If you feel that you do have a lot of items lying around the house that you can live without, then maybe a garage sale would serve you well. Just do your best to emotionally detach from your "things" because then you'll be able to lower the prices that will be attractive to buyers. Items that have more monetary or sentimental value to you can be advertised on Craigslist.
1) To begin with I sold my weight training set for $450. I'm 41 years old and I personally don't need it anymore - running 18 miles a week suits me just fine.
2) I sold my vintage baseball card collection for approximately $3,500 - not bad considering the economy and diminishing popularity of the hobby. This was hard to let go of because of its sentimental value - plus I had a Michael Jordan rookie - but I saved some cards to pass down to my children, granted they're ever interested or card collecting becomes popular again.
3) I sold off our second car for $4,000. At first, this seemed to be an impossible task with my wife and I both working, but we were highly motivated to freeing up money. Many times I rode my bike to work to make this work.
Depending on how much you'd like to become debt free and in what time frame, I recommend you ponder what you can sell around your house to apply toward your debt. Do you have an old motorcycle that you can live without? A boat or jet ski? If you're trying to simplify your life by ridding yourself of debt, it may mean living a simpler life.
I rather enjoy having less clutter around my house and I'm certainly not done selling some other items as well. How motivated are you in becoming debt free and in what time frame do you want to do it in? Some other tips to saving yourself money - as it was and still is for me - could be the following:
1) Refinance your car, house, or home equity loan. Do you have enough equity in your home to consolidate your debt by refinancing with a much lower interest rate? I was able to refinance my car and now I'm saving $102 a month ($1,224 per year).
2) Plead with your credit card company to lower the interest rate, even if it's just for one year - any little bit helps. Most of the time these credit card companies will offer a lower interest rate, but for new purchases only. Don't get sucked into this offer because then you'll be using your credit card again. Speak to them about how you've been so consistent and prompt in paying your bill each month. I honestly didn't have any luck in this, but give it a try, because you may have the right touch. It doesn't cost anything to try.
3) How do you shop? Are you shopping at the most economical stores? Are you strategically planning your errands to be more fuel efficient? Do you use coupons? We buy 80% of our clothing from thrift stores. My wife has an amazing knack for finding the top brands (Columbia, Perry Ellis, Dockers, etc.) in "almost new" condition. When it comes to grocery shopping we only buy what is on sale, even if it's not on our list.
In conclusion, by selling items around my house and the refinance of my car I saved a total of $9,174 over a one year span. I am almost sure that you will be more successful in saving money than I was. If you feel that you do have a lot of items lying around the house that you can live without, then maybe a garage sale would serve you well. Just do your best to emotionally detach from your "things" because then you'll be able to lower the prices that will be attractive to buyers. Items that have more monetary or sentimental value to you can be advertised on Craigslist.
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