I know for some people though this isn't possible. If you're living from pay check to pay check, then a big sudden expense might have to go on a credit card. I have a friend going through this right now. Below were my suggestions and discussions with them.
1. If you can't afford to pay for it, you shouldn't be buying/charging it. This might mean you don't get to go out on that fancy dinner, or go to that theme park with friends, or even afford gas that week. In all situations, try to change the plan so you spend what you can afford. If it's gas, there's public transit. If it's an event, it's an apology and a rain check.
2. Sit down and figure out your budget. What comes in is ALL you have. If one pay check pays all bills, then you have the second pay check as what you could spend all month on food and gas. This is what you should make your max credit card amount as. When you charge it up and have no more room to charge, then you at least know you can pay it. And get rid of any other credit cards, lines of credit or etc temptations that might make/allow you to charge more than that second pay check amount.
3. DON'T just transfer your balance to different cards/line of credit. Yes the interest rate might be better on one, and this is a bandaid for maximum a month as you'll still get charged the interest, but it's bad all around. You need to pay it off, not just move it. And DONT'T get tempted by those pay check advance loan places. Those are best described as you on a treadmill where they just keep pressing the up button on speed.
4. DON'T just pay the "minimum" charge on your credit card. This is usually $10, and will not even partially cover the interest charged on that month. No, pay as much as you possibly can. Scrounge every penny and pay everything you can each payment and as many times a month as you can too. On the bottom of each credit card bill is a handy little line that says "if you only pay the minimum each month it will take you __ months/years to pay it off". This is a horrifying number to look at as it also factors in interest.
5. Remember, interest is charged on the WHOLE balance.. This includes last months interest. So if you owe $1000 and don't pay for 1 month and get the 22% interest charge, your balance is now $1220. Okay so next month if you don't pay, you're now going to owe (1220+22%) $1488. So you can see how a minimum payment of $10 won't be a drop in the bucket.
6. If you have ANY savings, pull that out and pay the balance. Yes you might lose money because it's one of those "lock it in" deals, but you can't afford to be in debt or paying high interest when you have money sitting there. I tried to explain it as "don't be worrying about your future when your present is in trouble".
7. So you need a lump sum to help knock off a bunch of what's owed? Ok. You know that jar of spare change in your room and car cup holders.. Start there. No word of a lie, any money is good. Now you want to keep enough money in your account to cover the "auto-charged" things so you don't incur a bounce/insufficient charge, but anything else should go to debt repayment for a few months.
8. Live on nothing! Eat out of the freezer and pantry. Buy $1 rice meals and coupon/price match every single thing. You can't afford anything other than spare change meals for a little while! Walk or carpool instead of filling up with gas, or do an in-home movie night with candles and dollar popcorn instead of a date night out. This is also a good time to use your gift cards or to sell them to friends. Get creative!
9. Side hustle and call in "favours". If every friend you have can find you something to do for them for $10, you'll easily have a nice chunk to throw at your debt. Move a fridge, paint a bathroom, the first step is simply asking if anyone has any odd-jobs. Make sure to weight the cost of getting to the project doesn't zero out the amount you'll get. If no friends have anything on the go, post on Kijiji or with some flyers at an old folks' home.. Just ask for any odd jobs paying cash!
10. Sell stuff. Unused DVDs, trinkets, clothes.. People will buy anything if it's priced right, so throw up some ads on Facebook and Kijiji that are priced well and be willing to take anything people offer. Maybe you can promote a friends' business in exchange for something, try negotiating? Try something like Bookscouter to see if you have any books to sell too. Ask your family if they have anything they want to sell and if you do all the legwork can you get half/25% of what's made?
11. If all else fails, consider a second job. Yes this is the "ugh" option but if you are in debt and you can't see the light, then you need to do this. For a short period of time, every waking hour should be making you some money until you can get the debt gone. Remember, anywhere that's hiring is a good option.
12. If everything fails and it's the 11th hour, see if a family member or friend can bail you out. Can you have them pay if off and remove the interest and you pay them back every week/month? This is a question for good family members like parents that you immediately write and sign a contract for. Commit to pay them what you know you can afford a month and then pay back more. I'd still do all of the above items as it's still debt, but it's a last-ditch effort to remove the ever climbing interest amount. If this is the route you go, then seriously do not buy or charge anything until you've paid it back. It can be seen as insulting to some generous family members if you buy something instead of paying them back first.
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