Benjamin: 50 Actions You Can Take Right Now to Pay Off Debt

There are many differing opinions about whether you can assign a quality like “good” or “bad” to debt. In general, I tend to believe that if debt is providing access to a necessary asset, like an education, a car, or a house, debt is at the least understandable. With debt, there is always a risk, and when you owe money to any other entity, you are often forced to live by their rules. So if freedom, financial and otherwise, is a goal, one of the major strategies on the path towards that goal is to eliminate your debt.

In an economic environment where your income is more at risk, you may choose to beef up your emergency fund rather than pay off debt. In other situations, debt is often not worth the interest you are required to pay.

Here are 50 things you can do right now to help you get out of debt. Some of these tips will directly help you pay off debt while some will help you save money so you have more cash available to eliminate that debt.

Link your debt account to your savings account and set up automated payments.
Stop using your credit cards.
Decide on a debt repayment method that makes sense for you while understanding the pros and cons of each.
Plan a party for each milestone, but don’t go into debt in order to celebrate.
Pay cash.
Empty the change from your pockets into a change jar each day.
Deposit that cash each month and transfer the amount to your larges or most expensive debt.
Make a second mortgage payment or car payment each month if you’re not penalized for doing so.
Cancel magazine subscriptions and divert that money towards your debt.
Postpone your vacation until you are out of debt.
Track your spending.
Stop watching television, particularly the commercials.
Don’t fall for Keeping Up With the Joneses; they’re in more debt than you.
Avoid scams and gurus that promise to make you rich quickly.
Learn how to cook rather than dining out.
Downsize your lifestyle: move into a less expensive house or apartment.
Divert the full amount of your raise directly to your debt.
Sell your unneeded stuff on eBay or Craiglist.
Give away anything you can’t sell.
Dispose of anything you can’t give away.
Put your credit cards in a cup of water in the freezer.
Call the credit card issuers to selectively cancel your credit cards.
Review your three free annual credit reports to ensure you’re aware of all of your debt.
Get your free credit score from CreditKarma as often as you like.
Involve your family and friends by letting them know of your plan.
Start a personal finance blog to chronicle your debt reduction adventure.
Use the library rather than buying books at the bookstore, renting movies from Netflix or the store, and buying CDs from Amazon.com.
Realize the ability to eliminate debt is completely within your control.
Use extra time to turn your hobby into a money-making business.
Modify your budget and find room to use more of your income to pay off debt.
Grow your own food in a garden.
When you need to replace your car, buy a used model with a great track record.
Wait before adopting the latest technologies until they are no longer the “latest.”
Remove the temptation to spend on things you like rather than the things you need.
Use smart credit card balance transfers to make your debt less expensive.
Improve your health to lower your health care expenses, and use those savings to reduce debt.
Quit smoking to save money and health expenses.
Read more blogs and personal success stories about getting out of debt.
Cancel your cable service.
Gradually increase your thermostat one degree each week during the summer or decrease it one degree each week during the winter.
Eliminate expensive hobbies that do not provide a return on your investment.
Stop trying to time the market and invest in individual stocks, and use that money to pay off your debt.
Downgrade your phone from your expensive iPhone or BlackBerry plan to a basic service without extra features.
Set up motivational reminders or alerts in your calendar software.
Save first, then spend, for everything.
Create subaccounts at ING Direct to identify money destined for eliminating debt.
Organize your bills in a system that ensures you won’t lose them or pay them late.
Always pay your bills on time, the earlier the better.
Don’t acquire more debt.
Speak up! Be part of a community; any tough task is made easier by working together and sharing ideas.