What is the easiest way to get out of debt?

I am working on getting out of debt and am doing okay at it, but I can't do anything while doing it. There is nothing left to do fun things, and I can't even date if I don't have money to go out with. Is it really such a viscous circle?

What is the easiest way to get out of debt?
getting money and paying it off is the best way





last time I checked, it doesn't take money for a man and a woman who like each other to hook up, in any way they want, food is cheap, gas is down to $2 or so, condoms are like 50 cents if you need some





a few beers and a picnic could be the perfect date I think
Reply:Save more, spend less.





But that's easier said than done. I'm in a ton of debt, probably even more than you, and because I find it very hard to change my expensive lifestyle I will probably always be in debt. Fortunately, I have a great credit score, pay more than the minimums each month, and have low interest sometimes at 0% but no more than 6.9%. But if I did follow the advise of save more and spend less I might not be living paycheck to paycheck all the time.
Reply:The easiest way to get out of debt is to somehow come into a bunch of money. If that isn't happening, make sure that you are paying more than the minimum payment on your credit bills every month. Also, look at your lifestyle and see where you can cut back. Do you eat out a lot? Do you buy a lot of expensive products or clothes? Do you drive a gas guzzler? Is your car payment too big?
Reply:Faking your own death could work.....I wish I had a better answer, but I'm in the same boat you are.
Reply:Spend less, throw away all your credit cards, go without certain things, shop at the dollar store, pay as much as possible into your debts. Have fun later.
Reply:I've been doing Dave Ramsey's debt reduction plan. There are premium services on the site that you pay for, but I'm just taking advantage of his free advice for now. The debt snowball is interesting, and I'm on track to get all of our credit cards paid off in about 18 months.





You need to devise a plan on how much money you have coming in and when, compared to how much your bills are. One financial site I went to, I think it was Dave Ramsey's but I'm not sure, said don't think of it as a budget, think of it as pre-spending your money.





The big key to getting out of debt is not creating any more debt. That's tricky I know, because sometimes I've paid so much on my credit cards, then we ran short and had to pay a bill or buy groceries or whatever, and had to use the credit card again! That showed me that I really needed to change some things.





We trimmed expenses as best we could, put together a reasonable budget with things like groceries and entertainment in it, because we know we'll do those things anyway, so might as well factor that in.





Check out Dave's site and the Quicken site. Both have useful tips and free tools to help you. As always, just be careful what sites you would plug your personal information into. I trust both of these sites.
Reply:If you are rich you can date celebrities and supermodels.





Don't waste your time dating waitresses and Wal-Mart employees.





You deserve better.
Reply:Yes it is a hellish cycle and am in the same boat but still not able to pay some of my debt.Divorce, bad investments things of that nature have got me here.I am about to take on a second job and hope that helps.I dont go out either but am still not paying all I need to.Good Luck!!
Reply:It won't last forever. Plus, you can find free things to do. Get some ice cream and sit outside of the art museum after hours and talk. That was my best date. I don't think he was broke, either.
Reply:firstly, good on you for making progress with your debts and taking responsibility for them. There are few things you can try that are effective, but a lot of this will come down to what you are comfortable with.





I would *always* put aside some money for you each week to have a treat. If you are working working working with zero reward then life is going to suck real fast and you are going to get depressed and lose motivation.





Doesn't have to be much - just make it something fun and cheap that you like to do. Maybe go to a movie on Sat night with enough cash for some food and drinks. Not here to preach, your choice on whatever makes you happy.





Also, communicate constantly with your debtors. Keep them in touch with what you are doing and absolutely negotiate with them.





ok.. here is a plan.





List all the debts you have and put the smallest one on top. Put all the available spare cash you have into paying off the smallest one fast. This will not only give you a sense of progress it will also get one debt out of the way. This will look good for your payment record if the other people further down the chain start getting ugly.





Communication here is the key. Always pay everyone *something* each month, but pay the other debts in the que the absolute minimum required (or if things are really really tight, pay 50% of the minimum. - hopeless stuffed? pay 5%). However make sure you pay as much as you can to the smallest debt everyweek. - don't go out and spend the money saved!





Once the smallest debt is paid, start work on the second smallest and so on. Keep in mind the dude at the end with the largest debt ain't going to be too happy, but as long as you keep paying them something each month they cannot legally touch you, especially if you can show a evidence of the other debts being systematically terminated.





It is worth while sending the evidence of any paid off debts to the other companies in the que so they can see you are not shafting them. (always ask for letter of confirmation when you have paid out a debt in full).





Also haggle hard with them. Most companies will be happy to accept a 40% or so lump sum payment to clear the debt. If you have a $1000 debt, offer them $450 lump sum as full and final payment. Make sure you actually have the money and offer to pay them immediately - but make sure you state it is a FULL and FINAL payment for the entire debt.





The bigger the debt the smaller the lump sum needs to be. (say $3,000,000 debt you could write down to several cents in the dollar).





Good luck my friend. Have a plan, stick to the plan, communicate the plan with your debtors and show evidence that it is working and all will be fine.





One final thing: Destroy and close down all credit cards, cancel all direct debits from your bank account. If you cannot pay cash for it, don't buy it. Take on no new debt. If you need a visa or mastercard to buy stuff online etc, get a visa or mastercard DEBIT card, which works like a normal credit card but only with your exisiting cash funds.
Reply:To get out of you debt you must first analyze where you're spending your money. Get a small notebook and write down EVERYTHING you purchase in a week. You'll be surprised just how much you're spending and on what.





Next you'll need to create a payoff plan for your credit cards. Make sure to pay at least the minimum payment on each card monthly and pay it on time. Late fees don't help reduce the balance you know!





Pay extra on the account with the smallest balance. Once you have this account paid off do not put anything else on it if it is a credit card. Once the smallest balance account is paid off take the money you were paying toward it and start applying it to the next account that now has the smallest balance. Continue this process until you have all of your accounts paid off or back under control.





Paying yourself out of debt is not going to happen overnight nor is it a painless process. You first have to understand where you're spending your money and identify areas where you can cut corners.





Once you've got those bills under control or paid off put the money in savings! You should have 6 months of regular expenses saved and not use them except in case of an emergency.





Good Luck!
Reply:at least your makeing some headway
Reply:Women really don't need money to go out - they can just get dressed up and let guys spend money on them. If you're a guy, though, you're a little more limited - but you can compensate for lack of money with more creativity. I remember taking a gal out for a picnic lunch on a hilltop with a water view - she thought I was being romantic, and it didn't even occur to her that the picnic lunch I made was a lot cheaper than a restaurant. Try outdoor activities, like bike rides. Look up local events like festivals, free music concerts, outdoor markets. Try parks, beaches, cafes. You can spread your dollar further by stopping to buy smaller things like coffee or ice cream. Offer to cook her a meal (make sure it's something really good you're sure you can prepare well) - many women are inexplicably turned on by that. You can always order a cheap pizza, but you just can't repeat it too often. And Netflix will get you endless DVD's for just $9.95/month - curling up on a couch can be fun.





Just keep in mind that a $200 meal or concert won't necessarily be more "fun" than something that cost little or nothing.





As for the debt - set up an auto-pay with your bank to make the minimum payments on all your accounts except the one with the highest interest rate. On that one, pay it down every month by as much as you can while still putting at least 10% of your paycheck into savings. When that one's paid down, move to the next highest interest rate. Good luck.