Here are my simple debt reduction strategies:

1. Gather ALL of your debt information. (This can include your mortgage, or not, depending on if you want to pay it off early or not.)
2. List TOTAL AMOUNTS OWED for each account.
3. List FINANCE RATE next to each account.

1. Okay, now you have an “over-all” picture of your debt.
2. NOW, place the minimum you MUST pay for each loan, next to that loan amount:

1. Soo, now you know the TOTAL debt re-payment amount for all accounts per month.
2. Now, look at your budget (you do have a budget, don’t you?)
3. Figure how much you can pay EXTRA per month on you total debt.
4. NOW, here it gets tricky. You can do it one of two ways.

• Mathematical: List Loans by INTEREST RATES, pay minimums on ALL accounts, and put extra debt re-payment money towards the HIGHEST INTEREST RATE.
• MY WAY: This is the way I USED because it helped me see my progress faster: List Loans by BALANCE, pay minimums on ALL accounts, and put extra debt re-payment money towards the LOWEST BALANCE. Why do it this way? I like to see those smaller debts go bye-bye as fast as possible.

1. Now, once you pay-off the first account, do not stop. Put the minimum you were paying on that account, and the extra you were paying on that account, towards the balance on the next account. Keep “snow-balling” this way until debt is paid off.

Now, please note. YOU MUST PAY YOUR MINIMUMS on every account. DO NOT let an account get “behind” in order to pay more on another account. IT IS BETTER not to make progress on getting out of debt than it is to get behind on one account in order to get “ahead” on another. Also, if you can, consolidate your cc debts onto 1 cc with a very low rate. I do NOT suggest moving your balance over and over and over. Try to get a rate below 10 percent (zero is the best, but you may not have the credit for it) and pay those suckers off. I personally am on my last debt, at zero percent until December, and I am furiously attacking it.

Hope this helps someone out there…