Did you know that the average American owes around $58,604, and 77% of Americans carry debt of some sort? While it may seem hopeless at times, we fully believe that God gives us the wisdom and ability to become debt free, if we choose to be. Here are 7 steps to help you get out of debt and bring hope to you and your family.

Step 1 - Get Serious

The first step to getting out of debt is to actually decide you are going to get out of debt. It sounds simple enough, but it’s not that easy. What this essentially means is that you will need to decide NOT to trust in debt anymore. Are you living outside your means every month? This won’t be an easy change, especially suddenly, but the Lord has given us grace for this.

For freedom Christ set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. ~ Galations 5:1

Step 2 - List Your Debts

Let’s start creating our plan to get out of debt by listing all your debts. Get out a sheet of paper or create a spreadsheet and start listing them. Make sure you take some time and think through all your debts. You can use a format like the one you see below.

Step 3 - Analyze Your Budget

Step 3 may take a little more time and effort. Most people, when they create a budget, are forward-thinking. They plan their budget based on what they think or want to spend. However, a better method is looking back 90 days and seeing what you actually spent. Below is a possible list of categories to help jog your memory.

Insurance - Auto, Home, Health, Life, etc.
Living Expenses - Food, Tithes/Offerings, Utilities, Auto/Gas, Medical, Clothing, Entertainment, Monthly Subscriptions, Childcare, Home Repair, Investments, Taxes

There are many companies that can help you keep track of your budget in real time. A few of them include, You Need A Budget (YNAB)* and Every Dollar*. Currently both companies offer free trials to their service. So feel free to give them a try and see if they would be a good fit.

Step 4 - Trim The Fat

Alright! Did you take the time to review how you actually spent your money in the past 90 days? If you did, congrats! Way to take responsibility and a huge step toward becoming debt free. You should have something that looks like the budget below.

Once you’re looking at your actual spending habits, you can take an honest assessment of your spending. Do any areas surprise you? Are there areas you can see right away you’d like to trim a little?

If you need a little help, there are many online sources and companies that will help you find the best prices on many things you probably already use.

Get Jerry* is a company that will compare over 50+ insurance rates all at once. Allowing you, the consumer, to compare and make the decision based on your needs.

Rocket Money* (formerly Truebill) is a company that helps you get control over your subscriptions, so you know exactly what you’re paying for, and they’ll even help you cancel unwanted subscriptions. They also help you negotiate better rates on your current subscriptions if they qualify.

These are just a few options to help you Trim The Fat on your monthly budget. Go and see how much money you can free up!

Step 5 - Interest Rate Is King

In Step 5, what we’re looking to do is to get as much of our debt on as low of an interest rate as possible. What we will do here is just list some possible options that are available to help with this process.

Refinance - If your current interest rate on your mortgage is 2% higher than the current rates, it may be worth exploring refinancing. Remember, the goal is to pay off all debt ASAP, so make sure you use the “freed up” cash flow towards paying off higher interest debt.
2nd Mortgage / Debt Consolidation - It may be an option to explore either of these two options if you have high-interest debt (12%+)—mainly high-interest credit card debt.
Peer-to-Peer Lending - There are many companies now that offer loans that are peer funded. These work because peers (investors) are looking for better returns on their money and are willing to offer other peers (borrowers) a loan at a lower interest rate than banks or credit card companies. One of these companies is Prosper.com.* Check them out and see if they will be a good fit for you.
The last tip in this section is - Don’t Borrow Money From Friends or Family! If they are willing to gift you money, that’s fine. But maintaining the relationship may be difficult once someone loans you money.

Step 6 - Finding Money

This is a very fun step because it’s all about exploring different ways to find “hidden” cash we didn’t know we had. Here are a few ideas to explore for Finding Money!

Charity Miles Write-Off - Did you know that the IRS lets you write off mileage when you do charity work? That means any time you serve at your church, you can write off the miles. Currently, it’s around 14 cents a mile. Please consult your tax expert for specific applications to your situation.
Property Tax Overpayments - If you’ve owned your house for many years, there may be a chance that you have overpaid on your property taxes. You can check your county’s website for more information on this.
Check for Unclaimed Money - There are websites out there that list possible money that is in your name, and you haven’t claimed it yet. One of these is MissingMoney.com.* Go check them out and see what you can find.
Sell Something on eBay - We’ve all heard the saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Never underestimate what someone is willing to pay for things. Take a weekend to find and list any items you haven’t used in a while. Don’t just throw it away, do some research, and you may be surprised at the amount of money you can raise!

Step 7 - TAKE ACTION!

Once you’ve taken the time to do these steps, you’re now ready to put them together into an actionable plan. Let’s get started!

Identify the extra cash flow you were able to free up.
Create an emergency fund of $2000 to $3000 dollars. While most financial advisors recommend the equivalent of 6 months of expense saved, this is a good place to start. This may take you a few months.
Next, take that additional cash flow and start attacking your debt. Best practices here would be to pay off smaller debts first, so in our example in Step 2, we would pay off the “Citi” balance of $3916 first.
- Side note: If you chose to get a 2nd mortgage or a debt consolidation loan to consolidate your high-interest debt, start attacking the debt that has the highest interest first. Leaving your mortgage to the very end.
Once one debt is paid off, you then take that debt’s monthly payment, combine it with your cash flow and take that whole amount and attack the next debt.
Repeat the process over and over until you’ve completely eliminated your debt!

Bonus Step! - Superfund Your Retirement!

Congratulations! You’re now debt free! Now what? What do I do with all this extra money?

Give extravagantly and focus on funding your Future Funded Ministry Plan! (Retirement plan)

In our example above, after you’re completely debt free. You will have over $2500 a month in available cash! Ask the Lord what He will have you do with this money, and then take action. One that we highly recommend is to superfund your retirement so you will be prepared for the ministry the Lord has for you in your later years! If you have any questions about this, please schedule a meeting with one of our Stewardship Advisors.

Conclusion

You now have a plan! What we recommend is to commit it to the Lord.

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. ~ Prov. 16:3

Getting completely debt free isn’t a small task, but it is doable. Especially with the right plan.

Here at Envoy Financial, we want you to know that we are here to support you through your financial journey. If you need any advice, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at (888) 879-1376 or click here to schedule a meeting with one of our Stewardship Advisors.

* Envoy Financial is neither affiliated with nor compensated by any companies mentioned in this article. Please do your own due diligence before using any services listed in this article.