How I Repaid My Debt

I was thinking of what to post for today, and since it's a Monday and a start of another week, I thought of sharing something a bit grand and inspirational, well for me at least :)

Let me share how I was able to payoff my debts. Earlier this year I wrote that I was in a pile of debt, amounting to around Php 400,000. This is a lot! For an average office worker, having this amount of debt is a large burden, Something like David and Goliath!

I vowed to myself that within this year, 2015, I will payoff all of these debts! These debts comprised of credit card dues, home loan amortizations overdue, and some personal loans. All of these debts came from my "not-so-failed-business". I call it not-so-failed because although I did lose money from it, I learned a lot and now a better business person. More on this on another blog post.

Let me now share some of the things I did in order to repay these debts tantamount to more than half year's cash flows in.

1. I think the most important thing in order for one to accomplish paying debts is to VOW and PROMISE to ones-self that you will pay your debt! I made a promise to myself that I will repay all of the debt I had as I was sick and tired of having to pay extra finance charges for my credit card and home loan amortization dues! That is one motivation for me to quickly repay all of my debts. From the start of the year, I made a promise that I will repay my debts within this year, and fortunately I was able to do so by the third quarter of 2015! Promise and follow-through!

2. Adjust and adapt. With the continuous charges I was receiving from the banks, and bills coming left and right, I was suffocating from all facets of my financial life. Since I vowed that I will repay my debts within this year, I had to change my lifestyle as well. One example I did and still doing is cutting down on my weekend drinking sessions with friends. Ever since I did so, I was able to not spend extra for beer and booze. I also minimized my travels to the malls. This is one tip for people who would really want to change their lifestyle and not spend. DO NOT GO TO PLACES WHERE YOU WILL SPEND MONEY ON! It's as simple as that :) 

3. Allocate and stick to it. Once you have figured out how much money you can spend to pay for your debts, allocate is strictly to that account and stick to paying it, on time! This requires a lot of discipline and reminding ones-self that you have vowed to repay your debt. There comes a time in this part of paying debt that you will get tired of repaying the debts you have because you will feel deprived of all the money you could have been spending for yourself, but instead is paying back for the debts and charges you owe. But remember that this is a part of the promise you made. NO PAIN, NO GAIN, well for this case, NO PAIN, NO ZERO BALANCES! Allocate your finances for repayment, be disciplined, and stick to paying that account.

The above are just some of the things I did for me to repay my debts. These are all of course in the broadest sense.... If you keep on your promise, adjust your lifestyle, and keep on keeping the balances to zero, sooner or later, you will be debt and interest-charges free! *Sigh of relief :)