Video
Step 5: Adjust Your Cash Flow
Figure out how much extra cash you’ll need to pay down your debt, then find ways to generate it by making more or spending less.
Watch the video for Step 5, then adjust your spending plan to free up Debt Destroyer® Dollars.
The Keys to Success
- Determine how much extra cash you want to begin using to pay down your debt.
- Decide where that extra money is going to come from (make more or spend less).
- If cutting expenses is your plan, target fun expenses first, then variable expenses.
Act Now
For this activity, refer to the Spending Plan Worksheet and complete the RIGHT column, looking for places where you think you can reduce spending and free up money to put toward paying down your debt. We’ll call this “new” money Debt Destroyer Dollars and refer to it in Step 6.
Note: Use the Spending Plan Worksheet to find places you can free up money for debt destruction.
Once you complete the right column, review the spending categories with the largest values. Do these categories truly reflect your priority to pay down debt? If certain categories, such as vehicle payments or housing, are too large to allow for debt reduction, then you might need to consider changes to these expenditures.
Need to get a better handle on your spending plan? Visit the Budget section of our site for tips and strategies to help improve your money management game!