Spring has arrived! The weather in Vancouver is fantastic today and it got me thinking….Debt can be such a burden. Especially if it’s invading your thoughts, interrupting your sleep or debtors are calling. Whether your debit is stressing you out or whether you just wish it would go away a little faster, spring is a great time to deal with it.

Here’s how:

1. Gather the most up to date information on your debt (Including – type of debt, amount owing, payment/minimum payment, interest rate, frequency of regular payments, projected final payment date).
2. List your debts in order of interest rate – highest at the top (if two are the same rate, in order of amount owing – smallest amount owing first).

Now the detailed plan:

• Add up all the payments (use minimum payments for credit cards).
• Calculate how much you can afford to put against debt repayment from your monthly budget.
• Allocate your budget to all your debts, making at least the required or minimum payments.
• Put any leftover amount or ‘extra’ against the debt on the top of your list (#1).
• Once #1 debt is repaid, put the regular monthly amount that was going to #1 against #2 (in addition to the amount that was already going to #2) as well as any ‘extra’.
• Once #2 debt is repaid, tackle #3 and so on.

There are some other tricks and tips for dealing with debt that we’ll write about next time!