Debt adversely affects mental and physical wellbeing and can dominate our thinking during the day. Although debt is a serious concern, I have taken a light-hearted approach in looking at ways to save/make money and reduce the load:
SELL YOUR GRANNY
Not really! In times of need cast your sentimentality to one side and search those cupboards, garages, attics and any nook and cranny to find stuff which is saleable. There are many ways to take piggy to market including car boot sales, E-Bay, Facebook and garage sales.
Gumtree estimates that on average each UK household has circa £2500 of items which are no longer needed! You could also offer to sell friend’s and family’s unwanted things (excluding Granny of course) for an agreed commission. So de-clutter, make money, reduce debt and create space!
PENNIES MAKE POUNDS
You wake in the morning and your first thought is money or the lack of it. Followed by a sinking feeling, your motivation levels are low and you believe there is no way out of this money mess. Don’t despair, dig deep and treat each day as a battle to be won against the war on debt! One way people gain a sense of achievement is to list every single penny they have saved or made on a daily basis. Walking or cycling instead of taking the car, ditching the newspapers for online content, saving money on meals by creatively using leftovers and shopping when supermarkets action their reduced to clear offers are some ways to make savings. By recording your savings on a daily basis you will increase your focus and sense of achievement. Just do the maths; if you save 50 pennies a day then you will have made £182.50 pounds per year.
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES IN YOUR OLD KIT BAG
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag was a popular WW1 marching song, listened to by Snoopy when dreaming of being a WW1 flying ace and featured in various American musicals and movies.
Putting your various debts into one consolidated loan may well be worth looking at if the overall single payment is less than what is currently being paid. This approach may well be appropriate to some of the people who recently participated in a UK debt survey which showed that just under half of all respondents do not know what their debt to income ratio is and also that they have no financial plans for 2019/20. There are many credible companies offering consolidated loan plans so shop around for the best terms.
BE A FREEGAN – UNUSUAL BUT EFFECTIVE
A freegan is someone who retrieves food, often from supermarkets, which has been discarded as waste but which is still edible. From sandwiches, bananas and meat to non-food products supermarkets chuck away thousands of pounds worth of edible food every day. Why? Due to their super vigilant and exacting standards items which are considered less than perfect, such as slightly bruised or wonky looking fruit, or beyond the sell-by date but not the best before date, will be discarded in order to maintain the company’s image.
Freeganism is becoming increasingly popular as debt to income ratios rise. A note of caution though, freeganism is legally a grey area, however no one in the UK has been convicted of this practice. Also and if you have access to a garden or an allotment, why not grow your own fruit and veg. This was common practice in the UK up until the 1950s and is experiencing something of a renaissance since the start of the financial crisis in 2008.
RESIST THE DEVIL
No one enjoys being in debt, living for the next pay-check and feeling like they are walking through mud each day. Debt research reveals 33% of UK respondents enter into debt without knowing how they will pay it back suggesting they give into temptation without thinking through the consequences. The trick here is to build a strong-mindedness and resist temptation and tell the Devil to go to hell!
Short to medium term pain for long term gain and freedom from debt is a price well worth paying. Good luck!
from Finance Girl http://www.financegirl.co.uk/ultimate-tips-for-reducing-debt-concerns/
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