Getting Excited About Debt Reduction

Maybe it has been a while since you were in college, and you were obsessed about getting decent grades. You attended every class and seminar, and you took lots of notes. You read ahead in your assigned studies and focused clearly on your assignments with great intensity. You studied early in the semester so you weren't caught short at mid-terms or finals. Your friends and family knew better than to expect you hang out with them or to slack off.

Perhaps it was that new car you were very excited about. You looked at pictures of it in Road and Track or other car magazines or looked it up on the Internet and read reviews and specs about it. You read the owners' manual and craned your neck each time you saw a car just like it go by while you were riding around town in your boring older car. You saved and sacrificed, and you put away all the money you could need to buy that dream car. Then came the memorable day when you purchased the car, and it was yours, all yours.

Get Obsessed About Debt Reduction

Debt reduction takes a certain kind of commitment, dedication, and, yes, obsession. You should be thinking every day, 24/7, about how you can reduce your debt. As you board the bus or train to commute to work instead of driving, congratulate yourself on all the money you are saving on gas and parking.

At lunchtime, when your co-workers spend $5 to $10 or more on sandwiches, salads, and burritos, take your homemade sandwich or salad out of your brown lunch bag and congratulate yourself on reducing your debt by $50 per week. That is $2,600 per year of debt reduction!

After work, at night, enjoy a movie on DVD. Save $10 to $20 by watching movies at home instead of going out to see them. Eat dinner, and dessert if you wish, at home. Ask if someone can teach you how to cook if you don't already know how.

Keeping Track Of Your Changes

Keep a notebook or log of your journey toward debt reduction. Record every cent you save so you will know that what minor efforts have been made are worthwhile. At the end of the week, total up your savings and write a check for the amount you have managed to save. Apply that money toward your goal of debt reduction by paying that sum to credit cards with the highest interest.