Hi there! You new here? We love that you found our little corner of the web. Here at Debt Free Guys, we’re all about helping people experience the freedom of becoming debt free! Would you love to feel that relief? After reading our article below, see how we can help you more here.

Need to eliminate debt fast?

Do the holidays and family have you stressing about holiday debt? Don’t stress this season with these 7 quick tips to eliminate debt FAST! For help specifically with paying off credit card debt, get the free 7-Step Credit Card Debt Slasher here.

Why debt sucks and you want to eliminate debt fast

Even people without debt stress about debt. Why? Because it’s so easy to get into debt.

One crazy splurge on a credit card that you can’t pay off at the end of the money, and suddenly you’re in the debt vacuum.

Have an unexpected illness, and you may be paying off medical bills for years.

Feel compelled to celebrate everyone’s everything?

Birthdays. Anniversaries. Retirements.

Gender reveal. Baby shower. New baby. Baby’s first birthday.

Halloween. Thanksgiving. Hanukkah. Christmas. New Years.

This list is never-ending and won’t end until you say stop!

But what do you do if debt sneaks up on you? Follow our 7 quick tips to eliminate debt fast.

Listen to the 7 steps to eliminate debt fast:

How to eliminate debt fast

Save for extreme circumstances, like medical issues or natural disasters; people usually acquire debt to fill a void in their lives. We did! The insatiable need to buy more when we can afford it because we’re unsettled about something in our lives, past, present or future.

After years of self-reflection, we learned that we were making up for years of being picked on, bullied and forced to stay in the closet as gay boys. When we finally came out of the closet, we revelled in our freedom a little too hard.

We found our freedom and community in the dance clubs. Ironically, even though the dance clubs made us feel like we were home for the first time, we were afraid that our new gaggle of gays would reject us if we didn’t look and live the fabulous life.

What the void in your life is, only you can know. However, if you don’t learn what’s driving your behavior, you’ll never eliminate debt from your life, and it’ll get worse.

As with any addiction to drugs, alcohol or sex, the addiction is a symptom. Find out what that is for you and save yourself from being a cyclical debt offender. To eliminate debt, be crystal clear on what got you into debt in the first place.

Then, . . . .

1. Learn your ‘why’

What’s your “why”? Why do you want to eliminate debt?

There are millions of people who are okay with spending $1,000 to $5,000 a year servicing their debt. We were paying $10,000 a year in interest on our $51,000 of credit card debt. That’s $10,000 annually with no apparent return to us. For us, we’d rather eliminate our debt and spend the extra money on vacations or retirement.

Knowing your “why” will help when it’s not so comfortable sticking with your goal of eliminating debt. Creating a debt payment plan and lowering your interest rates won’t make paying off your debt easily. You’ll still need motivation and support when you’re tempted to fall back into old habits.

After months of soul-searching, we learned that while we enjoyed our carefree disco days, they weren’t fueling our souls. What we want in life is to save for retirement, travel and give back to our queer community. Not living according to our highest values made living harder.

The motivation to eliminate debt is different for each of us. If you have a strong “why ” then the motivation is more powerful.

We often ask ourselves, “Would we rather have a margarita here [wherever we’re currently living in the US] or have a margarita on the beach in Puerto Vallarta?

The answer’s always PV.

The more crystal clear you are on why you want to reach a particular goal, such as becoming debt free, the more fuel you’ll have to achieve reaching that goal. - John of Debt Free GuysClick To Tweet

Whatever your motivation is, have a clear picture in your mind’s eye to use as motivation when you don’t feel strong and have a clear plan to eliminate debt. Only because we knew our three “whys” could we maintain the motivation for over two and a half years to pay off our $51,000 of credit card debt.

2. Stop accruing debt to eliminate debt fast

Let’s face it. No plan for eliminating debt will work if all you do is keep accruing more debt.

Have ever busted a pipe when you were working on your plumbing? All of a sudden, water seems to gush from everywhere, and you feel powerless to stop it.

Your first instinct is to be the little Dutch boy and plug the hole with your finger, but even if that works for a second it won’t last long. You could grab buckets and towels, but they won’t help you any more than your little finger.

What you need to do is stop the water at the source. Close your pipes!

Similarly, stop acquiring more debt, as you’re trying to pay debt off. It’ll only make your goal of becoming debt free possible.

3. Do a spending analysis to rein in outliers

Next, analyze your spending.

Most people don’t have a clue where their money’s going. The good news is, most people only have one to three outliers in their spending that if reined it would make eliminating debt drastically faster.

For a simple cheat sheet to analyze your spending, get the Credit Card Debt Slasher Toolbox after you sign up for the 7-Step Credit Card Debt Slasher guide here.

4. Save $500 – $1,000 as an emergency fund

Life happens. Success is rarely linear.

Plan for the hiccups in your life and with your money by setting aside as quickly as possible $500 to $1,000 to only be used for emergencies. This will give you a cushion in your budget and help you stop taking one step forward and then being forced to take two steps back.

5. Use the Debt Lasso Method to eliminate debt

The Debt Lasso Method is the foundation of our process for paying off $51,000 in credit card debt in under three years. It’s the process that’s helped folks pay off over $500,000 in the last two years.

It’s a more effective process than the Avalanche Method and a less expensive process than the Snowball Method.

It’s the best, and here are the steps:

1. Commit to not acquiring any more debt, and commit to sending a specific dollar amount over your net minimum monthly payments every single month. Every. Single. Month.
2. Trim any cards you can pay off in the first month or two with your committed minimum monthly payment. Get some quick wins!
3. Lasso your debt into as few locations as possible with the lowest interest rate as possible. Consider using 0% interest rate credit card balance transfer cards or a low-interest personal loan.
4. Automate paying all your bills, including your committed minimum monthly payment, on time and in full every single month. Every. Single. Month.
5. Monitor your finances, including your automated payments to ensure everything gets paid on time and correctly. Monitor, also, to send more money to your next card when one card is paid off.

We walk folks through these steps step-by-step until they’re debt free in the Credit Card Pay Off Plan.

6. Put all extra money toward debt

Send all money freed up money from reduced expenses, reined in spending, lower or zero interest payments, savings, toward your credit card balances.

Plus, any extra money you get from tax returns, bonuses, pay increases and promotions, and holiday and birthday gifts, should all go toward your debt until you’re debt free.

7. Send it before you spend it

To get different results, we must do different things. As debt addicts, we did the opposite of this step too many times. In fact, David would buy things with his credit cards even though we had the cash because he liked the feeling of having cash.

What does “send it before you spend it” mean? Pay all your bills as soon as you get your paycheck, even before your bills are due. You can even call your service providers, cable, phone and otherwise, and have them shift your payment dates to align with your pay cycle. If you consolidate your debt, you’ll get on a convenient payment plan to manage your debt.

This tip will ensure that you pay your bills when you have the cash to pay bills. Paying your bills on time is critical to maintaining or building a good credit score. It, also, eliminates past-due calls from your service providers and credit card companies.

These are our seven quick tips to eliminate debt fast. To make paying off your credit card debt easier, get your free copy of the 7-Step Credit Card Debt Slasher here.

Watch rather than listen to this Queer Money® below:

How can you get more Debt Free Guys and Queer Money®?

✅ Subscribe to the Queer Money® podcast here @ debtfreeguys.com/qm
✅ Please give this video a thumbs up
✅ Please subscribe to this channel
✅ Set notifications so you never miss a QMFU

Resources to eliminate debt fast

• 7-Step Credit Card Debt Slasher
• 7 Cost-Conscious DIY Grooming Tips on Queer Money® EP259
• CreditWise
• 7-Step Credit Credit Card Debt Slasher Toolbox
• Debt Free Guys on Facebook
• Debt Free Guys on Twitter
• Queer Money Facebook Group
• Queer Money on Instagram
• Queer Money on YouTube
• Subscribe on iTunes
• Email [email protected]

Get more ways to eliminate debt ASAP:

• 10 Ways to Lower Student Loan Payments
• How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt in 2022
• 4 Principles of a Debt Free Life Podcast Series