Okay, so I've never been great with money. After graduating I accumulated a tonne of debt, largely from living beyond my means at the expense of my credit cards. This debt accumulated to the point where I was unable to keep any money from pay check to pay check as it was all going on interest, repayments on a car and all that stuff. So, 5 years ago I decided enough is enough. Despite a modest wage of $30k after tax I managed to work out a plan for wiping my debt.
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First, I stopped eating out and pre-cooked all my meals. Meals were planned out a week before-hand and my shopping list only included the meals I planned on making
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Second, I sold my car. People are always buying the latest cars they can't afford, me included. I sold my BMW and the surplus to wipe any recurring payments. I replaced it with a cheap Prius.
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Third, I used the snowball plan. If you've not heard of this before, search it in the search bar. It's a great way of paying off debt.
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Finally, I cut out my gym membership and started going on runs instead. I also stopped drinking, though that wasn't entirely financially motived.
I feel so much more free now. Financial stability is so important and I wish I had some self control from a young age. All it really takes to be financially secure is having some discipline to live within your means.
TL;DR: Paid off almost $50k of debt by living within my means and having some self control
Submitted October 06, 2017 at 12:34PM by Augustuso http://ift.tt/2xYFKI0
