There can never be too many strategies up your sleeve when it comes to paying off your debt, and truly, every single dollar counts. So, without further ado, here are 17 creative strategies you can use to pay off your debt.
Here are 17 strategies you can use to help you pay off your debt starting today!
1. Sell Clothes/Shoes/Accessories on Poshmark
Using the app Poshmark, you can sell any of your unused or gently used clothes, shoes and accessories for a profit.
Simply take pictures of the item you’d like to sell, post it on the app (which is free, by the way), and then price the item and write a description for it.
Once you post the item for sale on the app, other people using the app can buy your item outright, or they can make an offer on your item.
Once it sells, you can ship your item at no cost to you using a free box from USPS, and then the earnings will be placed in your account once the seller accepts your item.
For tips on how to make the most of your Poshmark sales, check out this post.
2. Create a Website for Someone
If you’ve ever created a website before, this is a very desired skill by many! The next time a friend or family member mentions they may need help in this department, why not offer to help?
Or, check out Fiverr – a website that allows you to offer up your skills for money.
3. Sell Items on eBay
Another great place to sell your items is on eBay. I did this a few times during my debt free journey and was always able to make a sale that helped me put a little extra money toward my student loan debt.
I typically sold electronics and shoes on eBay, but you can really sell anything here!
4. Take Advantage of Your Student Loan Lender’s Referral Program
My student loan lender had a referral program that ended up helping me make a little extra money. Basically, if I referred someone to my lender, I could get a referral bonus.
It just so happened that one of my friends was looking to refinance her student loans while I was on my debt free journey, and since I liked my lender (Laurel Road) I was happy to refer her.
Once she was all signed up, I received a referral bonus of $400. Read more about student loan lender referral programs at this post here.
5. Babysit / Dog sit
Another great way to make money: babysitting or dog sitting. Check out Care.com for babysitting gigs in your area or the app Wag! for dog sitting gigs in your area.
6. Use GetUpside When Getting Gas
GetUpside is an app that I still use to this day to make extra money (even though I am now debt free!). If you have a car and you need to fill it with gas, simply pull up this (free!) app beforehand, and it will show you the gas stations nearby that are offering a discount.
Select the one that you’d like to go to, fill up your tank as you normally would, and then make sure you print your receipt when you’re done. Once you take a picture of your receipt and upload it to the app, you will receive your cash back just a few days later.
You can sign up for GetUpside using my referral code here: https://upside.app.link/G7BVQ
7. Budget
This one is truly a no-brainer! But I know it’s not always the easiest thing to get started on. When I first started getting serious on my debt free journey, I knew budgeting would help me, so I made an effort to try.
It took me a few months of adjusting my budget to get to a place where I felt comfortable with the amounts I allocated for certain things, but eventually I found something that clicked.
I currently use the zero-based budgeting method, and I really like it.
8. Get a Roommate
If you are up for it, getting a roommate can save you hundreds of dollars a month (and not just on rent!). When I got a roommate during the summer of 2019, I began saving $600 a month in rent alone, but also saved a ton of money when it came to splitting the electric bill, gas bill, water bill, etc.
You can read more about my roommate experience in this post here.
9. Cancel Memberships You No Longer Use
If you have an account that you no longer use but continue to pay for each month, make sure to cancel it! Those unused memberships are taking away precious money that you could be putting toward your student loans.
I try to reconsider my subscriptions every few months or so to ensure I am never paying for things that I do not use.
10. Write Blog Posts for a Company That Needs Them
If you like to write, you’d be surprised how many companies need people like you to write blog posts for them! If you don’t know anyone personally who could use help in this area, check out Fiverr or Upwork; both of these websites post gigs recruiting writers for blog posts on a consistent basis.
11. Cook Food at Home
Cooking at home will cost way less than eating out. It’s that simple!
12. Use the Field Agent App
The Field Agent App (another free app!) is one that I used a few times on my debt free journey that definitely helped bring in some extra cash. Basically, the app will give you a list of tasks to choose from to start.
The tasks might be something as simple as “order your groceries online at Walmart.com and pick them up”.
Once you accept a task, you’ll do as the app requests, and then you’ll have to answer some questions about your experience.
So if you ordered your groceries online at Walmart.com and went to pick them up, for example, the app might ask you things like, “How was your experience?” or “How long did you have to wait in your car until your groceries were brought to you?”.
Once you answer these questions on the app, your answers will be sent for approval. Once approved (usually after a few days), you will receive your payment in the app.
Then, you can take this money and transfer it directly to your bank account.
Here’s my referral link if you want to try Field Agent! https://fieldagent.page.link/AZRG
13. Negotiate Your Bills
Any time a company tries to increase a bill of yours, you should consider negotiating to either get the same rate you had before, or one close to it. If you never try to negotiate, you’ll forever be accepting higher costs when you might not need to!
In the book “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi (one of the top books I recommend for your debt free journey) he has an entire script that you can use, word for word, to negotiate your bills.
14. Sell Clothing at Consignment Stores
If you don’t want to take the time to take pictures of your clothing, write descriptions and post your items to Poshmark or eBay, you should try consignment stores.
To sell clothing, shoes or accessories at consignment stores, you simply bring in your items to the consignment store, and they will choose which of your items they would like to sell.
If they choose some or all of your items to sell, they will price your items themselves and put them out for sale in their store.
If your item sells, you will make a profit on the sale (but first, the consignment store will take a bit of that profit since they did most of the work to sell it in the first place).
15. Get Rid of Cable
If you don’t use cable but you’re paying for it, get rid of it! That’ll be one less bill you have to pay.
16. Resell Clothing
If you have an eye for trendy clothes, try reselling. Reselling involves heading to a Goodwill or thrift shop, finding cute items that other people would love, and then selling these items on Poshmark, eBay, taking them to consignment stores, etc. to sell them.
This way, you buy the item for cheap and sell it for just a little bit more so that you make a profit.
17. Get a Part-Time Job
Obviously, getting a part-time job will take up some more of your time, but it can absolutely help you bring in more money. I write all about the pros and cons of having a part-time job in this post.
This post was all about 17 strategies you can use to pay off your debt.
Other posts you might like:
- I Paid Off $60k Of Debt And Didn’t Get Student Loan Forgiveness – Here’s How I Feel
- 9 Ways My Life Has Changed (and Hasn’t) Since Becoming Debt Free
- 7 Insane Student Loan Debt Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind
- How I Paid Off $60k of Student Loan Debt in 4.5 Years: A Timeline
