Thursday, May 6, 2010

8 STEPS TO GETTING OUT OF DEBT

America—it is time to get rid of your debt! Financial experts David Bach, Jean Chatzky and Glinda Bridgforth offer their step-by-step action plan to help set you on the path to financial freedom.

PHASE 1

Give yourself one month to complete these steps—you can do one a week!

Step 1: How much debt do you really have?

It's time to get real about your debt. Do you know how much living with debt is costing you?

Step 2: Track your spending and find extra money to pay down debt

Time to cut back on the extras. Use David Bach's Latte Factor® calculator to find big savings where you least expect them! It is time to start paying you.

Step 3: Learn to play the credit card game

Think $10 a day won't make a big difference in your debt? Think again! With this plan you can pay off $8,000 in credit card debt in just 3 years.

* Note: Step 3 Part 4 has been revised.

Step 4: Stop spending

Making small changes can help in a big way. Use these tricks to help you spend less and save more.

PHASE 2

In the second phase of the Debt Diet, the steps become more detailed and have more long-term goals.

Step 5: Create a monthly spending plan

Use the monthly spending plan worksheet and calculator to create a budget that you can stick to—and save with—every paycheck.

Step 6: Take big steps to grow your income

Whether it is selling your assets or getting a second job, sometimes you have to make big choices to get out of debt.

Step 7: Prioritize your debts and raise your credit score

Confused about which debts to pay off first? Here's a plan to pay down your debt while actually improving your credit score!

Step 8: Understand your spending issues...and save!

 Get to the heart of why you spend. Then, find out how to resist temptation and build an emergency fund.

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