Your goal of being debt free is just like any anything else. Try asking yourself if you want to lose weight or if you want to be rich. It doesn’t really matter what your goal is. What ever you want to do in life is GOING TO TAKE WORK – PERIOD! If you think that life is a free ride then you need to give yourself a slap, and I mean a good hard slap. You’ve heard the expression – “Anything worth doing is worth doing well” – haven’t you?

I mean, if you’re going to have a half-assed attitude about achieving your goals (and I don’t care what those goals are), then why are you even wasting your time having a goal in the first place. But hey, sometimes people set goals out of desperation. Only when people are backed up in a corner do they really care about what it is they need to do. Why some people wait until they are in a “do or die” situation is beyond me.

Like wanting to lose weight, quit smoking, or to be a millionaire, being debt free is going to take work, and I mean a lot of work. Even if you do manage to achieve whatever goal it is you want to achieve, getting there is one thing, but staying there is another. Obstacles always get in the way. Such is life. Maintaining what you have accomplished is much tougher. Becoming debt free is only a temporary solution. Staying debt free is permanent, at least for as long as you live. Getting and staying out of debt is what will allow you to have the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

So, the question is – How do I become debt free?

Well, for one thing, the above three paragraphs should give you a good hint. You can either cry about it or do something about it. The choice is yours. Whining and crying about your debt problems SUCKS. It does not solve anything. All it does is make you cry even more. But taking some sort of action that helps you to reduce or eliminate your your debts will set you on the right path towards a happier and healthier lifestyle.

Before you can go to work on reducing your debt, you need to do some preparations first. In other words, before you take action you need to do some homework first. They say that knowledge is power. Well, the more armed you are with information you need, the easier, faster and more powerful will be your actions when working on your debt reduction.

The first way to helping you get rid of your debts is to have the proper mindset. You really have to want to be debt free if you want it to come true. I wrote a series of six posts where I wrote about tips for people who wanted to know how to repair their credit. In this first step they discovered that the first thing they need to do is to recognize the fact that they have a debt problem. Once recognized, it was time to start gathering the information they needed and to learn how to understand and use that information.

Two things to keep in mind is that “reducing debt” and “increasing credit” are just like two sides of the same coin. You can’t do one without the other having an effect. When you become debt free, you will have an awesome credit rating. If you have great credit, then it means that you have your debts under control and creditors and other lenders will go out of their way to do business with you.

The second thing to remember is that being debt free does not necessarily have to be your number one goal. Instead you may opt to lower your debt enough so you can buy an engagement ring for your boyfriend or girlfriend, buy a new car, or to go on a vacation.

The point is that you need to set your mind straight and be as specific as possible as to what it is you want to accomplish. The more specific your goals are, the more detailed your action steps will become and the easier it will be to achieve satisfactory results. As an example, a goal to “lose weight” is not much of a goal compared to a goal of “losing 15 pounds in 30 days“.

Let’s put your goal of being debt free in perspective here. Instead of wanting to just get rid of all your debts as a goal, try setting it to “pay off $300 of credit card debt every month for the next six months“. If need be, print those words out on your computer and tape it to your forehead if necessary.

Looking at it another way, wanting to be debt free as your primary goal is a huge undertaking. It’s like taking one giant step. On the other hand, paying a smaller amount on a loan or bill every month for several months is much easier to handle. Ask yourself which is easier – taking one giant leap and hope you don’t fall flat on your face, or taking several smaller steps instead and reaching your goal without being stepped on. The other advantage of taking one step at a time is that you only need to do one thing, that being to pay $300 on your credit card bill. That’s it.

Of course, you also need to take into consideration your other financial obligations that need to be taken care of, but the point is, if you really do want to be debt free, then there are only three initial things you need to do:

  • 1. Recognize that you have a debt problem and to start preparing your mind to do the things you need to do to solve that problem.
  • 2. Before you can solve your debt problem, you need to do your homework and gather the information you need to prepare yourself first.
  • 3. Take smaller steps and take it one step at a time.

Yes, there is more to being free of all your debts, but you need to start somewhere and it’s always easier to start slow and steady. As you gain momentum, being and staying debt free will get easier, faster and and longer lasting. BUT…and it’s a big BUT…You have to stick to it. DO NOT QUIT! If you do quit, then you may as well LAY DOWN AND CRY.

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