April 16, 2019

Greetings Thrifty Friends,

If you were told 'there would be no math' I'm sorry, but the first step in managing and eventually getting out of debt is getting out that calculator.

You may have a good handle on the magnitude of your debt; say you have $5,000 in credit card debt, $20,000 in student loans and $10,000 left on your car payments, but you have to put that debt in some kind of perspective.

What's with the egg? It's a trick to demonstrate the most comfortable cushion you'll ever sit on.

Click here to watch the video. Yes, you can really sit on an egg!

Keep pinchin' those pennies,
Penny

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TODAY'S THRIFTY TIP:

First, set yourself a goal for being out of debt. Say; five years. Then figure out what you will need to save on a monthly, weekly, even daily basis.

In the scenario I just described I know I would have to set about $580 aside every month just for debt. Or, if I am paid bi-weekly, $290 out of every paycheck.

But it can even be helpful to look at a daily schedule. In order to pay off the above debt scenario I would have to save about $19 every day!

That really puts your spending into perspective when you are at the grocery store and thinking about splurging on a $20 bottle of wine, or you are debating between 2 New York strip steaks and 2 pounds of hamburger. Or maybe you are trying to decide whether to go out and spend $20 on two movie tickets or rent a movie at home.

Looking at debt this way brings your goal into the present, rather than some abstract objective you hope to achieve in the distant future.