Sunday, February 5, 2012

Eliminate Debt - REIR Step 2

This is pretty straight forward. Stop using debt, and start paying it off immediately.

According to the federal reserve, households with credit card debt, on average owe $15,799 to credit cards.  Regardless of the interest rate, this is like having an investment of 16k guaranteed to lose money every year.

If you need to use debt to buy something, that just means you can't afford it.  The exception to this may be your first home if you have nowhere else to go.  Forget about keeping up with the Jones' next door or impressing your friends with expensive cool things that you purchase with debt.  When you stop doing this, you'll find that the only people who cared about your new purchases were others that are in the same debt-loving situation.

There are 2 methods to paying off debt.  The first is to pay your debts off in order from smallest balance to largest balance.  The second method is to pay your debts off in order from highest APR to lowest APR.  I personally favor the first method, because its easier to see improvements in my financial situation.

No comments:

Post a Comment