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In today's society, it is hard for someone not to fall into some kind of debt. There are good debts and bad debts. Good debts are generally loans that one has to pay for their houses, which can appreciate in value, thus becoming an asset instead of a liability. On the other hand, bad debts are those credit cards' debts and car loans, which in all cases are normally deemed as liabilities.

Therefore, getting of debts, or more specifically bad debts is very important. I myself, have had such an experience before and am glad to say that after a few years of hard work, have finally paid off my debts. Thus, I would like to share a few pointers with you all.

1. Consolidate all your debts - First thing, assess how bad the situation is. Place all your bills in front of you. Categorise them into credit card payments,loans, installation payments,etc. Then, lay them out in ascending order, i.e. from the lowest to the highest debts

2. Assess your income - Next, determine what is the nett income you are earning monthly. Make sure that you get the most accurate figures as this plays an important part in the latter stages

3. Planning your repayment scheme - As stated in the first point, you have now determined all your debts and which is the lowest of them all. Start by repaying this amount so that it gets out of the way. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT just pay the minimum sum required as it will just result in accumulation of interest on your outstanding payment, meaning you will just keep paying and paying interest.

As for the rest of those payments keep paying at least the minimum sum or more if you can. Once the lowest debt is cleared, proceed to do likewise for the next debt and so on.. I understand that it will be a long and taxing journey but believe me that the faster you repay all your debts the better.

Alternatively, you can consolidate all your payments by transferring to one single bank/creditor, assuming that you are allowed to do so. That way, you need not have to worry about missing out on your repayments to various creditors and end up paying unnecessary interests.

4. Cut away all your credit cards - To fully ensure that you do not get tempted to spend, cut away all your credit cards. This is definitely going to stop you in spending on unnecessary things.

5. Prioritise your purchases - Determine what you want and what you need. A want is something which is deemed to be non-essential and those can definitely wait. Get only the needs and even for needs , think twice before you make that purchase. Be very honest and do not try to justify a want as a need so that you can go ahead with that purchase.

6. Draw up an expenses record - keep track of your daily expenses and determine if anything such as that cup of Latte from Starbucks can be foregone. You would be amazed at how much savings u can generate just by doing that.

All the above I have done and am doing so to ensure that I do not fall back into being a debt-ridden person again. To get out of debt is really an uphill task and requires immense determination and effort to be able to achieve that. Everyone would want to stay debt-free instead of seeing their salary going back into repaying all those debts and end up with little or no savings at all..

To conclude, the above are just some of my views derived from personal experiences which I hope can help many others to start their path to gaining back a debt-free lifestyle.

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