X Ways to Stay Motivated During Your Debt Repayment Journey

6 Ways to Stay Motivated During Your Debt Repayment Journey

While you might initially feel excited to pay off your debt, the actual day-to-day budgeting might wear on your enthusiasm after a while. After all, who wants to keep drinking coffee at home instead of splurging on a daily Frappuccino or two?

That’s why it’s important to keep some money-motivational tools in your back pocket. We’ve come up with 6 foolproof ways to help you stay motivated on your debt repayment journey, from personal loans for debt consolidation to celebrations of small financial wins.

How to stay motivated during your debt repayment journey

[1] Pick a debt payoff method

Sticking to a debt payoff plan can give you a blueprint to follow to help you stay on track for debt repayment success. Three popular methods include the debt snowball, debt avalanche, and debt consolidation methods.

Debt snowball method: With the snowball method, you’ll pay off your debt in order of smallest to largest amounts. You’ll continue making minimum payments, but you’ll put any extra cash toward the smallest debt. Once that’s paid off, you’ll focus on paying off your second-smallest debt. The debt snowball method can be very motivational since you’re watching your debts get wiped out for good.

Debt avalanche method: With the debt avalanche method, you’ll pay off your debts in order of highest to lowest interest rates. You’ll continue to make your minimum payments, but extra money will first go toward the highest interest debt. Once that’s paid off, you’ll focus on paying off your second highest-interest debt. The debt avalanche can help you save more money overall since you’re eliminating the highest interest amounts that can be costing you big each month.

Debt consolidation: Debt consolidation is when you combine multiple debts into a single monthly payment that will ideally have a lower interest rate. Debt consolidation can simplify bill paying as well as save you money. Debt consolidation methods include balance transfer cards and personal loans.

[2] Create an emergency fund to avoid getting sidetracked

A big part of debt repayment success is consistency. If you suddenly face an unexpected expense, such as a high medical bill, having an emergency fund on hand can help you avoid having to go back into debt to cough up the extra money.

Appreciate how far you’ve come

If you’re paying off a large amount of debt, it can be tempting to just focus on how far you have to go instead of how much you’ve accomplished. While you obviously shouldn’t rest on your laurels, it’s important to take the time to pat yourself on the back and acknowledge your progress.

[3] Knowing your daily and monthly interest

If you understand how much you’re paying daily and monthly in interest, that can be a big motivator to erase your debt. To calculate your daily interest, multiply your loan balance by the interest rate and convert it to a decimal. Then divide that number by either 12 for monthly or 365 for daily.

Example: Let’s say you have $30,000 of debt with a 6% interest. $30,000 x .06 = $1,800. $1,800/12 = $150 per month in interest and $1,800/365 = $4.93 per day in interest.

[4] Embrace progress, not perfection

Follow your debt repayment plan but don’t expect to follow it perfectly. After all, you’re only human. Expect the unexpected and give yourself the freedom to fail once in a while—this might help you stick with your plan even if things go haywire.

[5] Don’t forget to celebrate small wins

Celebrating small milestones on your path to paying off debt can be very motivating. Even if these small celebrations set you back slightly, they can actually help you feel refreshed and excited to continue paying off debt

[6] Hang with others focused on debt repayment

If all your friends enjoy expensive vacations and shopping sprees, it might be tempting to try to keep up with them. Having a group of friends who are also focused on healthy financial habits can help you stay on course.

Hopefully, these 6 motivational habits can help you stay on track to debt repayment success. Remember: Debt repayment is a marathon, not a sprint.