Living a Debt Free Lifestyle

You probably know what it's like to sit down at a desk covered with bills. Your entire paycheck is gone or spoken for well before you put it in your bank account. You want to live debt free, but you don't know how to get accomplish it. Fortunately, living debt free is possible for nearly everyone, but it takes planning motivation to reach that goal.

A key to living debt free involves financial discipline. If you have too much debt it means that you spend too much money. That's all there is to it really, you can blame it on a lot of things, and there are often situations, such as illnesses that arise, that are completely out of your control. But most people are deeply in debt because they are spending money that isn't theirs, on things they just can't wait to have.

In just a few years, most of the junk you bought is already in the trash, but that debt is still there. Not only that, it's growing faster than ever because of interest. The good news is that there is a very simple solution for getting out of debt. Living debt free means following a couple of very simple rules for as long as it takes to pay off your debt and recover your financial footing.

The first to getting out of debt is to not get into any more debt. This involves exercising restraint. It may involve getting rid of your credit cards or putting them in a safe and secure place so you won't be tempted to use them. You may need them for a true emergency like repairing your car so you can get to work. However, you should get in the habit of avoiding credit for everything else.

The next step is to begin downsizing your budget. In order to pay off your debt and live debt free you're going to have to free up some extra money from your paycheck to pay extra on the debts you already have. The only two ways to do this are to increase either your income or decrease your expenses so that there is extra money available to pay off debts.

Once you stop unnecessary spending, and start paying off your current debts, the only thing left is patience. You simply must make a commitment to living debt free or you will never make it. It's likely going to take a few years, but once you succeed you will have a much greater peace of mind and greater ability to save and plan for the future.