#14 Five Debt Slaying Tips
We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish. Matthew 14:17.
When we set out on our DSJ, we reviewed our finances and determined we had approximately $100.00 per month to apply toward Dragon slaying. That’s all. Not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not tens of thousands of dollars. $100.00. Per. Month. Granted, we were paying a lot of money toward debt already with the minimum monthly payments toward the Dragon and its associates. Money was going in that direction, but we did not have “extra“ money. Here’s kinda how it worked:
1. Pay more than the minimum. If you have not done calculations for what a minimum monthly payment will do for you on a credit card balance, let me break it down for you: it won’t do much.
2. Be in it for the long haul. When we actually ran the numbers it appeared it was going to take us fifteen (15) years before we completed out DSJ. 15 years is a long time. Nonetheless, we endeavored upon the noble quest to slay the Dragon no matter how long it took.
3. Go small. We applied the $100.00 we had toward the smallest debt until the smallest debt was eliminated (see #11) . The smallest debt at the time was a small furniture loan (as an aside – don‘t borrow money for furniture). The minimum monthly payment was $59.00 per month on about an $800.00 balance.
4. Snowball (A Dave Ramsey Term). Once we removed that payment, we had an additional $59.00 to pay toward the next smallest debt, a small student loan ($1,100.00) of the Queen’s. At that point we had a monthly amount pf the original $100.00 + $59.00 (furniture) + ~ $70.00 (the minimum payment on the student loan) going toward the student loan. Hopefully, you can see how quickly you can build momentum with this strategy.
5. The money will come. For those of you doing the math at home, $100.00 per month does not equate to $127,000.00. The $100.00 per month seemed to multiply. I’m perfectly convinced that because we focused what we had toward the debt, it multiplied. Once you are in the mindset that you will use whatever weapons you have against the Dragon, more weapons begin to appear. You’d be surprised as to what extra you can find in your budget (once you make one) to go toward Dragon slaying.
READ THIS: Following Jesus by N.T. Wright
