Is Debt Smothering You?
” I couldn’t pay all my bills, so I would stuff them in a drawer so I didn’t have to see them. I had creditors calling me but I didn’t answer their calls (I knew their numbers on the caller ID). I didn’t know how much debt I was in because I never wanted to open the envelopes, much less add it all up on paper. I’d borrow money to pay bills, then owe more. And I’d skip paying lots of bills, and accrue interest.” Leo Babuta, Zen Habits, “How I Finally Faced My Weight and Debt Problems.”
I was fat. Not just plump, but really fat! It plagued me because I felt like I couldn’t stop eating. I hated myself because I felt totally out of control. It built up over years as I attempted to use food to solve my problems. During my teens and early 20’s I was plagued with self doubts, insecurities, and what I now understand as normal growing pains. What I didn’t understand then was that all my insecurities and anxieties were a normal part of growing up and that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with me. I knew compulsively eating would not solve my problems, but I didn’t know how to stop.
What Does Being Fat Have to do With Being in Debt
Overeating and overspending are examples of the wrong strategies to solve personal problems. In fact, overeating and overspending make weight and debt problems worse. As Leo Babuta mentioned in his recent article, avoiding debt problems make them worse. We all have problems and times when life sucks. Unfortunately, most folks online tend to put their “best selves” out in public. So when you are feeling overwhelmed, and you look around at others, it looks like everyone is better off than you are. That is simply not true. Everyone gets down and out once in awhile.
If too much debt is your problem, there is help.
How to Deal with a Debt Problem
1. What keeps many folks from losing weight or eliminating debt is that it just seems too hard. If you look at losing 40 pounds (like I did), it seems insurmountable. The same goes for a pile of debt. According to Nerd Wallet’s article, “American Household Credit Card Debt Statistics through 2012”, the average US household has $15,162 in credit card debt. Getting rid of $15,000 credit card debt on a tight budget seems overwhelming.
2. Alcoholics anonymous suggests that an alcoholic needs to hit bottom once or twice before making the commitment to change. In that vein, the decision to get out of debt can only be made by you! You usually come to a point where the debt is just too much and you realize things must change. In order to solve a problem, you must acknowledge it. Face up to reality and accept that you have a debt problem.
3. Once you acknowledge your debt problem, only you can decide to change. No one can make you change, it is a personal decision. Putting your bills in a drawer unopened won’t help you solve your debt problem! You may have to hit rock bottom or get close before you decide to take action. Take a tiny step to get rid of debt.
3. Right here, right now, take one tiny step to get rid of debt!
Here is where to start; take out all of your statements and put them in a pile.
That’s it, don’t do anything else today! You took the first step. This simple step forces you to accept that you have a problem and prepares you to deal with it.
4. Put a tiny debt goal in your daily planner each day. This next step propels you to action. Taking action, no matter how slight, starts the process of eliminating the debt.
Use these sample goals to get you on the path to eliminate debt:
First steps:
- Download a debt app like this Pay Off Debt App from the Debt Myth.
- Create a chart like this one to face up to your debt (print and complete):
Notice that the steps are very small. It is so easy to get overwhelmed when facing a large debt. You don’t know where to begin, so you don’t start. That is why you start small….. really small.
Next step:
- Write or enter, into the app or chart, one debt per day. That’s it. This might be your goal every day for the next week.
Once you write the steps in your planner, it’s easy to get started. Whatever you do, do not make a goal such as: pay off all my debt today. That will definitely fail. Here’s a more realistic goal; pack lunches for the family the night before work and transfer the $20 saved towards debt repayment.
You can do this. Think, small steps. If a step seems to big, break it up.
Keep setting the baby step goals and writing them down. Next, take the action to follow your plan. You need action because the motivation comes and goes. Don’t think about it too much, just make the small changes, bit by bit. After all, as the well worn quote goes:
“If nothing changes, nothing changes.”
How are you tackling your debt? No debt, what advice do you have for those plagued with too much debt?
Image credit; Google images_myuniversitymoney.com. Debt payoff data compliments of Bankrate.com
