Nobody wants their spending freedom to be taken away from them, as having to put off wants and vacation to pay a faceless corporation is not what we work hard for! But having a loan can become a learning experience for all of us as we try to always be financially responsible. We are probably in that debt for many personal reasons (or excuses) but that doesn’t change the fact that we have to pay every penny we borrowed.

The average debt of an American household is $137,000

What most people don’t understand is that when they have a loan, their lives and spending habits should change according to their new net income. That means, no more impulsive shopping and quick nail salon trips, especially when we borrowed a significant amount of money. Putting off payments and not minding monthly bills is a risky business thing to do. Sure, we might be able to buy something new for that month but that would mean an added interest on our next bills. So better momentarily cut any expensive leisure and just focus on finishing the debt first.

Here are some of the things we should cut back (inthe meantime) if we are still paying off loans and debts.

Vacation

No matter how cheap the plane ticket gets because of a current airline promotion, we should not take on a vacation that requires flying or traveling far. Vacations can take up a lot of money, from hotel accommodations to souvenir shopping. There are a lot of ways to unwind and destress that doesn’t involve spending that much. Find new alternatives and pay the loan with that supposed money trip instead. The faster we can zero it out, the faster we can go back to our normal lives.

New phone plan

Make use of the gadgets that still work instead of getting a new one

We just don’t want to put salt into our wounds, and getting a new phone plan exactly does that. One of the question one might have is why phone plans among other things? That is because the cellular industry moves on faster than our previous lovers (lol). But kiddings aside, mobile companies release new versions of their line within a year, making the ones we have a little outdated. We sometimes feel that owning an outdated version is just like not owning anything at all. But getting a new phone plan just to ease our overflowing ego and pride is just not worth it. In the end, it’s going to be us who will suffer from this action. As long as that phone still works, just use it until we can afford to buy a new one.

Dining outside

Restaurant foods can be attainable with the right amount of practice and video tutorials. It’s not really the food that makes eating out expensive. It’s the services that come with it, offered to us by waiters and chefs. We are paying for their time and talent to prepare the meal for us, and that usually comes to 10-20% higher than it would if we prepared it at home. So instead of going out to eat, just go for a grocery run and prepare a meal at home, while picking up a new skill in the process. And since we are already on the topic of food, that also includes getting coffee and drinks in bars and coffee shops.

Go to a casino and gamble

Easy money will always have a nice ring to it that’s why gamblers do what they do. Give $1000 and $2000 will be given, provided that we win of course. If we lose, then that’s $1000 down the drain. It might seem enticing, gamble to have more so we can have more to spend. But the risk that we are going to take is just not worth it! If the goal is to make more money out of that thousand dollars, better invest it somewhere safe and sure.

Get a credit card

A portion of our salary goes to paying off debt. That means there’s only little left of us to buy the things we see necessary. In a spur of the moment, we decide to open a credit card to help cover those lost dollars and still be able to pay for our lifestyle. This is a horrible idea. We might be able to buy our wants, but that also means an added monthly bill will be addressed to our name. Is the quick rush of having a new pair of shoes really worth it?

It’s always a bad idea to get a credit card while still paying off debt

At the end of the day, we are going to suffer from bad financial decisions we are going to make. There are only two ways to fix this. Either get a part-time job for an added source of money or cut back from the material things. Finding ourselves in a debt should be a learning experience that handling money is a serious business.