2019年10月31日 • 7分钟
Do you feel like you’re stuck in debt that you don’t know how you’re ever going to pay off? 当你有这种感觉时，你很难体验到经济上的幸福. We care about providing you with the tools and resources you need to make healthy financial decisions – and we’re glad you’re reading this. 如果你想私下一对一地谈谈你的债务, 我们欢迎您预约面谈. We know life’s busy, which is why we’ve made it easy for you to set up an appointment to 跟我们谈谈.
Read on to learn some strategies and habits that will help you pay off your debt faster – and then 跟我们谈谈 如果你需要更多帮助.
Creating a 预算 (if you don’t have one already) is the first step towards almost any financial goal. To get started, check out our articles on determining your expenses and creating a 预算.
列出你所有的债务——信用卡, 学生贷款, 无担保贷款, 汽车贷款, 抵押贷款, 等. Write down the interest rate you’re paying for each, as well as how much you owe for each one. If you can afford the minimum payments on all your debts – that’s great. Whatever you can afford to pay in excess of the minimum – begin paying that debt first. 例如, 如果你有7%的学生贷款, 3%的汽车还款, 信用卡的利率是12%, pay at least the monthly minimums on all loans and then use all the other discretionary money you have to pay the credit card.
It’s important to pay at least the minimum required for things like 汽车贷款 and 抵押贷款 – that way you will have a car to drive and a house to live in. Beyond that, you must pay 超过最低余额 required if you want to get out of debt. Do the exercise described above to begin paying off your most expensive loan first. One trick to make this easier is to make weekly (instead of monthly) payments.
作为一个信用合作社，我们的存在是为了促进您的财务健康. 这就是我们提供服务的原因 伟大的利率 -可能比你用其他卡支付的要低. We also offer something that most banks and other credit unions do not – 零余额转让费. When you transfer your credit card balance to a card with a lower interest rate (without paying a fee for the transfer!) you could save hundreds or thousands of dollars off the life of the loan payoff.
如果你在年底拿到了工作奖金, 圣诞奖金, 一个继承, or a generous cash gift – don’t immediately blow it on a shopping spree, 一辆豪车或一次豪华假期. Remember that large sums of money don’t come around very often – and the benefit you’ll get from paying off debt is huge. 第一个, you’ll save on the interest you would be paying if you kept paying the debt off for many months or years instead of paying it off right now. Second – and even more importantly – you’ll increase your sense of well-being because you know you’re making the smart decision, 因为你将来要担心的债务会更少.
Most of us probably have things lying around at home that we don’t really need or want. 用旧iPhone? 一张你不太喜欢的餐厅的礼券? 车库里积满灰尘的书架? All of these can be turned into cash, via a garage sale or by selling them online. There’s a lot of apps out there now that can helps you sell something locally (like the bookshelf) or online (like the iPhone). 有些网站会从你那里买礼品卡. You won’t get the face value of the gift card – but $75 towards your debt is probably more valuable than a $100 meal paid for by a gift card.
如果你负债累累, whatever rewards you are earning cannot make up for the interest you’re paying on your credit card debt – or compensate for the peace of mind you lose due to debt.”
真的想停止积累债务? Remove all your credit cards from your wallet and leave them at home when you go shopping. The fact that you earn rewards with credit card purchases is not a good enough reason to use credit cards. 如果你负债累累, whatever rewards you are earning cannot make up for the interest you’re paying on your credit card debt – or compensate for the peace of mind you lose due to debt. 用借记卡支付每月的开销.
如果你经常在网上购物, you’ve probably stored some of your credit cards online to make checkout faster – many computer browsers and smartphones also store your card information to make checkout easier. If you’re trying to control debt that’s exactly what you don’t want: easy access to keep increasing your credit card balance. 如果你还打算在网上购物, 改用借记卡, which will still give you the ease of checkout but won’t encourage you to go into further debt.
也许是一次错误的判断让你负债累累, but it’s more likely that it was actually your day-to-day habits that did it. 考虑你的 资金管理 ——你每天、每周、每月是如何花钱的.
你真的需要每天喝一杯拿铁吗? Consider this: save $20 Monday through Friday by getting coffee at home. Then go to your local coffee shop on Saturday and enjoy a $4 latte – without having to rush to work. 你每周会多赚16美元. 这听起来可能不多, 但如果你负债累累, that translates to an extra $832 per year you can use towards payments. Keep in mind that whatever you’re paying off translates into saving on interest. So forgoing that weekday latte could end up being worth more than $1000 a year if paid on a high-interest credit card!
如果你觉得你的月供是一种负担或惩罚, you won’t have a sense of financial well-being – and you might get discouraged and lose motivation. 关键是奖励要适当. Consider the example above – giving up a weekday latte but enjoying one on Saturday mornings. That kind of reward would be a weekly reminder that you’re making progress. You should also consider no- and low-cost rewards – like binging on a new season of TV show after you pay off a set amount of your credit card.
If you’re reaching a big milestone – like paying off a car or completely getting rid of student debt, 考虑一个更大的奖励，同时又符合你的财务目标. 例如, 花几天的时间去周末露营, 而不是飞到国外去度个昂贵的假.
我如何决定是存钱优先还是还债优先? The good news is that you can make progress in both areas of your financial health by making a financial plan that accounts for your goals.
你担心还信用卡吗? 你有选择. 从Patelco的专家那里了解如何偿还信用卡债务.
试图摆脱债务? 了解债务合并, 如何整合债务, 以及合并的利弊, 帮你决定是否适合你!
