Believe it or not, debt relief lessons can be found in dieting. If you have ever tried to go on a diet and you were successful in your efforts, the chances are high that you can also overcome your financial troubles.
Getting out of debt and dieting has a lot of similarities. In both cases, you have to control yourself from excessive consumption. For dieting, you have to control what you eat. For debt relief, you have to control your spending. Both will hurt and will be difficult to maintain. The two processes will take all your will and determination – if you want to curb the urges that will help you reach your goal.
While it is admittedly hard, the rewards from both are not something you should belittle. Dieting will help you improve your health. The debt relief program that you have chosen to follow will also improve your financial health.
We all know how debt can be a serious problem for a lot of consumers. In fact, according to a study published on PWC.com, there are employees who earn $100,000 or more and still find it difficult to pay the minimum of their credit cards. You can see how significant the debt situation of some consumers. Those who carry over a balance on their credit cards have admitted that they have a plan to reduce their debt – no matter how difficult it can be.
If you are looking for tips to help you succeed in improving your credit situation, you have to look at the debt relief lessons that you can get from dieting.
4 lessons from dieting you can apply while getting out of debt
There are 4 important lessons that you can take from dieting.
Know your capabilities.
Before you choose a dieting strategy, you have to know what you can do first. There are programs that requires you to cut back on your food significantly while there are those that will not. There are also dieting programs that involve heavy exercise routines. You have to know what you can do based on your capabilities and your lifestyle. There are some people who can cut back on eating but their work will not allow it. You have to consider these factors to help you choose the right dieting technique that will allow you to reach your ideal weight.
In the same way, you need to consider your financial capabilities to help you choose the right debt relief option. You have to understand your debt situation and your payment capabilities. There is a specific program that will suit your unique financial situation. If you need debt reduction because you can hardly meet your basic necessities, much less your debt payments, then you have to go for debt settlement instead of debt management. If you have a good credit score and you can avail of a low-interest loan, then choose debt consolidation loan. Choosing the right debt relief option based on your financial situation will allow you to complete the program without stretching your finances too thinly.
Prepare yourself.
The second of the four debt relief lessons that you can learn from dieting is to prepare yourself. Both debt relief and dieting are tough. But with careful planning and by researching the right tools, you can make it easier. Dieting involves meal planning and spending some time thinking about what you will eat. It also requires time management skills so you can find time to exercise despite your busy schedule.
The same is true for debt relief. You have to prepare your budget plan so you will know where your money will go while you are going through the debt relief program. You also have to prepare a list every time you go on a shopping errand so you can keep your spending to a minimum. This will allow you to maximize your money so you can allocate more towards your debt payments.
Follow the rules consistently.
Dieting, for it to be effective, requires discipline, determination, and self-control. You have to consistently follow what you set out to do so you can finish it faster. Any detour or cheating may not damage the program entirely, but it can make it hard to get back on track.
This is one of the important debt relief lessons that you can take from dieting. If you make a commitment to cut back on your spending, follow it strictly and consistently. Unless it is a life or death situation, do not cheat. You need to develop the right habits and stick to it. When you are able to do something consistently, that habit will be harder to break. You need to maintain these habits because paying off your debt completely does not mean you can stop making smart decisions about your finances. You need to continue what you are doing because you have to maintain the debt-free status that you worked hard to achieve.
Take it one step at a time.
Finally, you need to take it one step at a time. We mentioned how difficult it is to get your ideal weight and to get out of debt. If you cannot handle the big picture, then break it down into bite-sized goals. According to an article published on Entrepreneur.com, the big picture can sometimes be daunting for some people – so much that they end up feeling discouraged about the whole thing. Do not let this happen to you. With dieting, you can concentrate on shedding 5 pounds at a time. With debt relief, you can take baby steps by dividing your debts or setting up milestones that you can celebrate. When you have smaller milestones, you can achieve success early on. It does not matter if the road ahead is still long. It makes the journey all the more tolerable if you know that you have small successes to celebrate along the way.
How to make debt relief last
Of course, paying off your debts, in the same way as reaching your ideal weight, is only half the battle. It is a great success and you should celebrate – but it is not over yet. You need to exert effort in order to maintain what you just work hard to do.
Here are some tips that you can use to make this possible.
- Establish a budget. To make any debt relief program work, you need to have a budget to help manage your finances. This budget plan will help monitor your income and expenses so you can avoid overspending – which can lead you to borrow money and be in debt.
- Plan your use of credit. Now we are not saying that you should now borrow money. You can use debt but make sure you know how to utilize it properly. If you learn how to use credit smartly, you can use it to open doors that will take your finances to the next level. Just make sure you plan it so you can afford to pay it back without compromising your financial position.
- Track your spending. It is also important that you learn to track your expenses. You need to be conscious of how you spend your money – making sure that it only goes to the expenses that are aligned to your financial goals.
- Build up an emergency fund. According to an article published on Investopedia.com, unexpected expenses is one of the reasons why some people declare bankruptcy. When you are not prepared for these emergency expenses, you will be forced to borrow money just to survive it. This debt may be the reason for you to fall into a debt cycle. Avoid this by building up your emergency fund. This will help secure your financial future.
