GET ON TOP OF YOUR DEBTS

THERE’S a good chance your first experience with a credit card worked out about as successfully as your first foray with vodka. Yet the difference is that a financial hangover can last for years.

If you only pay off the minimum on a $4400 credit card debt, it’ll take you 31 years to pay off … and $12,924 in interest.

And that’s only if you stop spending money on it. In reality, the bank will keep increasing your limit.

Which means you can keep spending right through your 20s (and sometimes your 30s, 40s and 50s) without realising just how much you’re being screwed. And that’s where I come in. Let’s you and I do a bit of role-play.

You can be the typical Aussie with a typical $4200 credit card debt, and I’ll be the Barefoot Investor.

Here’s me: So, what did you spend the $4200 on? Here’s you: Havaianas. Here’s me: As in thongs? Or Cuban cigars? Dude, what the hell are you smoking?

Look, I’ve helped thousands of people get out of debt. Quickly. Painlessly. Without having to feel like they’re setting out on a marathon. And I’ve never had anyone ever say to me “the worst thing I did was pay off my credit cards, you bastard”. In fact, it’s the opposite. When people cut up their credit card and post a pic on the Barefoot Facebook page, they’re ecstatic!

Why? Because they’ve finally stepped off the merry-goround of misery and made a decision they know they’ll never regret.

Being in debt is often a lonely, isolating experience. You don’t tell your family or friends that you’re struggling to pay off your credit cards, right? It’d be a downer. Embarrassing too. I mean, everyone knows they’re a rip-off!

What the hell’s wrong with you?

So you just trudge on, keeping a running balance in your head.

Occasionally it goes down, and you get your hopes up … but before long it’s back up to its limit. Most people live like this for their entire working lives, and end up paying the banks the equivalent of a house deposit for the privilege.

You can block it out for a while and pretend it doesn’t matter.

After all, in this country, if you’re normal, you’re broke.

But I’ve never wanted to be normal, and that’s why I cut up my credit cards years ago.

And it was one of the proudest days of my financial life.

The truth is you need to have some “no matter whats” in your life:

NO matter what, I’m not going to take out a high-interest rate loan to fund crap I don’t need.

NO matter what, I’m going to pay my own way, and claw back my financial confidence.

NO matter what, I’m going to set an example for the people around me.

Know this: the moment you say “no matter what” — and really mean it — you no longer have a debt problem. You’re already free. DOMINO YOUR DEBTS Today you’re going to regain control of your life.

The bottom line is this: if you have a credit card debt, or a personal loan or a car loan, you’re not in control of your financial future.

Look, I’m not here to judge you.

What I’m here to tell you is that if you’re in debt you’ve already experienced the worst of it.

You’re about to regain a feeling of confidence and control.

It’s all upwards from here. My method works.

It will work for you. And best of all, you’re going to enjoy it.

It’s like playing a game of (debt) dominoes.

There’s a bit of work in set- ting it up, but it’s worth it, because once you’ve lined everything up you’ll find that each debt gets knocked down like a domino, one after the other, automatically. Let’s do this! DOMINO 1: CALCULATE The first thing you need to do is line up all your debts — other than your HECS-HELP and your home loan.

Write them all down in a list — credit cards, car loans, parking fines, money you owe to friends.

There’s something very powerful about getting stuff out of your head and down on paper. DOMINO 2: NEGOTIATE Now that you’ve calculated all your debts, it’s time to negotiate. Hard.

The first thing to do is grab your statements, ring your bank and try to renegotiate a lower rate on your credit card.

Tell them you have an offer from Citibank of a 0 per cent balance transfer for 18 months, with no application fees, no ongoing fees and no transfer fees and you’d like them to match it.

They probably won’t. But chances are they will give you a lower rate on your current deal. Remember, it costs the bank more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.

So why shouldn’t you just take the interest-free balance transfer from Citibank for 18 months? Logically, you should.

However, the reason the banks are able to do something as illogical as give you an 18month repayment holiday is that they know you’ll probably spend more money on the new card (at a crazy interest rate, after the honeymoon period) and that you won’t pay it off in time.

That’s why I’ve found that for most people it’s better to negotiate a lower rate on your existing cards and pay them off one by one. DOMINO 3: ELIMINATE It’s time for some plastic surgery. Cut up all your credit cards. Take a photo, and post it on the Barefoot Investor Facebook page. Get ready for an avalanche of “likes”. DOMINO 4: DETONATE Now it’s time to detonate your debts.

I want you to rearrange your list of debts from smallest to largest. We’re not focusing on paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first (you should have already negotiated that one down in Domino 2). Instead, we’re focusing on building up your confidence by detonating some debts very quickly.

Now, single out your smallest debt.

It could be a parking fine, or $50 you owe a mate. It could be a credit card. Attack your smallest debt by bumping up the repayments so you can knock it over like a domino as quickly as possible. Focus your attention on knocking this smallest debt over completely.

But remember: while it’s great to put your spare money into paying off your debts fast, always make the minimum repayments on all your debts (such as a monthly payment on your credit card). This will keep the annoying letters (and debt collectors) at bay. DOMINO 5: CELEBRATE! When that smallest debt is paid in full, hold a bill-burning ceremony.

Seriously, I want you to go out to your backyard (with an alcoholic beverage of your choice) and burn the statement with a lighter.

Celebrating is really, really important. You need to give yourself a pat on the back for having a small win. That’s how you build momentum.

You’re training your brain to win.

The next day, take your momentum and move on to knocking over your next debt domino. Keep going until you’ve knocked them all down.

Once you go through the process of lining up your dominoes, you’re already free.

Being in debt is not the same as having a debt problem.

Once you begin pushing that first domino, you’re already in control, and you’ll soon be debt free!