5 Steps to Paying Off $1,000 of Debt Fast
When you reach that point in life where you are finally fed up with putting all your money toward debt, an amazing thing can happen; you can start finding creative ways to make bank as fast as possible. There is nothing better than that fire lit in your belly that is screaming, “I will never be in debt again!” Maybe you have already started coming up with creative ideas on how to pay off your debt faster, but in case you need a $1,000 idea, I’ve got 5 of them. Here are 5 things you can do to help you get $1,000 to put toward debt fast.
*This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission on recommendations at no cost to you.
Step 1. Have a plan of attack
No matter what kind of debt you are trying to pay off, it is so important to have a smart plan of attack. There are some great things you can do to get prepared for your debt payoff game plan:
- Free up money in your budget — 40 Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Bills and Save More
- Get a side hustle — I started a blog to help our family pay off debt.
- Learn how to reduce your debt before you start
Having freed up extra money each month is the best way to build a smart plan of attack when it comes to paying off debt quickly. You can use this money to decide which debts you want to tackle first and how quickly you want to knock ’em out.
Step 2. Take out the big guy
If you’re a Minnesotan like me then you might remember a few seasons ago when we had Favre on the Vikings. It was a glorious year. Until that game where they played the Saints — who very obviously did their best to aggressively and ruthlessly take Favre down. It was awful. And I hated it.
But when it comes to paying off debt, I want you to harness this mindset (with better sportsmanship) and work to take down your biggest financial block.
A too-big mortgage
For our family, this meant selling our house to get out of our mortgage and use the money to pay off debt and get our life back on track!
Fast debt ditching
Maybe for you this would mean selling your car, paying off the loan and then purchasing something with a smaller payment or that you can pay cash with.
If there is one big debt that is standing in your way that you can get rid of right away — find a way to do it!! However, if your big debt is at the top of several smaller debts, then it is crucial to knock-down those small threats one at a time while still keeping your eye on the prize.
The best debt payoff strategies:
If you are not a big fan of crunching numbers and calculating percentages, then I highly recommend sticking with the Debt Snowball method! See how we paid
Step 3. Keep score
When you’re in the middle of any game you have got to make sure you’re keeping score, right?
So how in the world do you keep score when it comes to debt payoff? PRINTOUTS GALORE! You can snag all my FREE printouts in my VIP Printout Library or you can get budget-specific printouts in my Fun Sized Budget Bundle.
Ways to Keep Score:
- Track each debt payoff payment
- Fill in a progress report so you can see how much debt you’ve paid off total
- Use a Debt Snowball printout so you can plan an official end-date for your debt
Keeping track of your debt payoff progress is crucial. It will help keep your head in the game, focused and ready for anything….like mistakes
Step 4: Re-strategize
Sometimes things are going to go wrong.
When we were in the process of selling our house, we tracked when people would have a showing, and if they had a second showing. More than anything, we paid attention to their feedback.
I stopped using air fresheners — people hated those as much as the smell of my cooking. Ha!
With our debt payoff, we stopped obsessively counting numbers and putting as much toward debt as we could and decided setting up automatic debt payments made us a lot less crazy.
Actually — we didn’t realize this until we were basically done paying off debt. I just want to throw it out there so you can save yourself from being as crazy as we were.
When you keep score, you become more aware of when things aren’t working. There is nothing wrong with restrategizing and changing your game plan.
Step 5. Play. to. win.
Remember why you started this debt-free mission in the first place. Help hold one another accountable if you’re doing this with
I mean, if you’re gonna do this, you’d better go all in. Right?
In any sport, the team gets training, they practice, they fail and the just keep going anyway, right?
What can you do to keep your head in the game?
- Make a dream board
- Write down your goals every. single. day.
- Talk about your plans constantly
- Tell other people
- Get help — If money and budgeting feel totally overwhelming, click here to view The Bucket List Budget. This course is designed to answer the unanswerable questions that you have about money!
Yes, you can absolutely scour the internet and find the answers to how to make maximize your money and pay off debt. I have done it myself.
But nothing beat the success I had when I go training. When Tom and I got training together.
Where to get additional training
When we knew we were ready to take paying off debt seriously, Tom and I signed up for Financial Peace University at our local church. This was something we had put off doing for years and years!!
It was a big-time commitment on our part and required a financial investment BUT it was one of the best decisions we ever made!
Now, I’m gonna get honest, I used to recommend Financial Peace all the time. To everyone. BUT as we got further along in our journey I started to realize that I was feeling disconnected from my life.
I had gotten too caught up focusing on the numbers to get us out of our money pit that I forgot to keep myself, my family and my goals as part of the equation.
That’s why I created The Bucket List Budget.
You can get financial training in so many different places, but what I wanted to do was create a course that didn’t just show how to save money or budget smarter but instead starts by helping you figure out what you want the most for your life and then plan your finances around those things.
Pin this!
