Debt Free Solutions - 3 Steps For Becoming Completely Debt Free
By Michael G. Harris

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Labor, 96% of Americans will fail financially by the time they reach retirement age. The number one reason? The inability to delay gratification. We want it and we want it now! We're using credit to get it. This kind of thinking has lead to record levels of consumer debt unlike anything ever experienced in our nation's history.

Believe it or not, it's not entirely your fault though. You've been maneuvered into this position by the entire credit industry. They play into our desire of wanting it now by offering "easy monthly payments" or "no interest until next year." And you know what? They're currently draining every dime of your future wealth!

Want proof?

Let's say that you decide to buy a $2,000 furniture set on your credit card. How long do you think it would take you to pay it off if you made just the minimum monthly payments? A few months? A few years? Well, a $2,000 purchase with a 19% credit card will take you 31 years and 2 months to pay off the balance. You'll pay over $8,200 in interest alone!

Got a mortgage? It's even worse. You'll end up paying around 3 times the purchase price of your house with most 30 year loans.

So what's the solution?

Total debt elimination. You need to get their siphon hose out of your life and never let them into your life again! How?

The first step is to make a list of all of your bills that you have a balance on such as credit card payments, car payments, and your mortgage. You'll want to list the balance and the minimum monthly payment on each one. Although there are many different ways to pay off debts in a certain order, one of the simplest is to start with the one with the lowest balance. Generally speaking, this will be one of your credit cards.

We just want to focus on paying off one debt at a time. Pick one bill and get started. Don't make extra payments on the others. Just focus on one at a time. When that one is eliminated, then use the minimum monthly payment from Bill #1 to focus on Bill #2.

For example, let's say you pay off the first bill with a minimum monthly payment of $50/month. Now, after you've paid this one off, you'd take that same $50/month that you were wasting and apply it to the second one.

Keep doing this for all of your bills and eventually you'll have a sizeable amount of money to eliminate your mortgage. This is called the "snowball effect". As each one is eliminated, more money is available each time to eliminate the next one.

Here's another example. Bob pays $50/month to Mastercard, which we'll call Debt #1. Bob makes some adjustments in his budget and eventually pays this one in full. Guess what? He now has $50 a month free. What should he do now? Apply that $50 month to Debt #2! After Bob has eliminated #2, he'll combine those two former minimum payments and apply it to Debt #3. Again, this is a "snowball effect". By the time you get to your mortgage, you should have quite a bit of money to work with to eliminate it.

So what the best solution to becoming debt free? First, list your bills. Next, list your balances. Finally, get started paying off your first bill with the lowest balance. If you stay with it, you'll have a debt-free, stress-free life just by following this simple solution.